A welcome change from its woes of late, GM was on top at its home motor show, the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

The world number one was awarded Car and Truck of the Year Awards for its Saturn Aura midsize sedan and the Chevrolet Silverado full-size pick-up on the opening day of the show. The Silverado, GM's biggest-selling model, beat the Ford Edge and the Mazda CX-7 crossover vehicles for the award.

Shortly after the awards were announced GM revealed its Chevrolet Volt concept car, which uses the company's 'E-flex' system that features a chargeable lithium-ion battery and a small one-litre turbocharged petrol-powered generator to self charge. The engine can be modified (or substituted) to run on hydrogen, bio-diesel or ethanol GM says.

The Volt concept is built on a modified future architecture, similar to the one GM uses for current 'small' cars, such as the Chevrolet Cobalt and HHR.

GM's Bob Lutz said at the show: "We are moving forward with technology that will unite several sources of energy... E-Flex technology is the conduit that makes it all happen. The Volt is something off-the-wall, unexpected and a technological advance we haven't seen before.

"This vehicle is the most meaningful because it is a radical departure from what's expected [and proves] environmentally-conscious cars can actually look good, too."

GM says the Chevrolet Volt electric concept sedan, with the next-generation electric propulsion system, could nearly eliminate going to the petrol station with little or no sacrifice in performance. The Volt builds on GM's hydrogen-electric technology previewed in the Autonomy, HY-Wire and Sequel concepts over the last six years.

The Chevrolet Volt is the first variant of the E-flex System. GM plans to show variations of the propulsion systems at future auto shows.

Speaking about sales at the show, GM's spokesperson said the company had sold more than nine million cars and trucks globally in 2006: the third time the automaker has sold as many vehicles globally. The other times were 2005 and 1978.

For the second consecutive year, sales outside the USA were greater than in-country. The almost five million vehicles sold accounted for more than 54 per cent of GM global sales. GM Asia/Pacific region sales were up 18 per cent.

Watch the GM Volt webcast from Detroit (you must select bandwidth) here