Unlike rival Toyota, that may launch a line of hybrids associated with the Prius name, General Motors has no plans to create a Volt brand of rechargeable vehicles after its much-anticipated plug-in sedan launches in 2010.

Brend Dewar, chief of global operations at Chevrolet, speaking at the Reuters Autos Summit in Detroit, said, "Our thought is to take the Volt technology to other products," adding, "The Volt was the original vehicle that we started, but I wouldn't see that as a brand marketing direction for us."

Toyota has a distinct advantage in contemplating a Prius family of hybrids as they have dominated the market in that genre since the late 1990s. Earlier in the week at the same summit, Bob Carter, Toyota's group vice president for its U.S. sales branch said he believed "Prius" had become as readily identifiable a synonym as "Kleenex."

GM, however, sees the Volt as paving the way for other vehicles based on the same combination of rechargeable batteries for all-electric driving and a gas-powered generator for longer excursions. Designed to run 40 miles on a single charge from a standard outlet, Volt has an excellent chance to become America's first mass-market plug-in hybrid.

With an opening price of $40,000 before a $7,500 consumer tax credit, the Volt may be a hard sell if the economy has not substantially improved. Still, GM has a target of 10,000 units in year one and 60,000 in year two.