During a marathon presentation on Tuesday, General Motors Vice Chairman Tom Stephens showed off slides of a new family van based on the company’s compact car platform. The van and other vehicles were shown as part of the session detailing a new Chevrolet SUV, a compact car concept and a three-row Buick van for the Chinese market. The images shown were not released to journalists.

While executives were intentionally vague about the new van, the production version of the Chevrolet Orlando immediately springs to mind, as it would seem to fit that description. Based on product-man Stephens’ assertion that the van will launch soon in multiple markets around the world, the Cruze-based Orlando seems a logical assumption. The Cruze is already on sale in Europe and Asia, so production kinks have been smoothed, and a platform variant seems like the most likely step. Worldwide markets have plenty of MPV options, and the Orlando slots right in. GM’s moves have defied logic in the past, but CEO Ed Whitacre characterized yesterday’s presentation as an introduction of a new GM. We’ve heard talk like this before, of course, but maybe this time they mean it.

[Source:Autoblog]