The Saturn AstraAs part of our launch week celebration, the guys have sent me to (very cold) Chicago for the Auto Show. Getting acclimated, but a few upcoming events ought to be of interest to GO readers:

• Saturn is unveiling the Astra, it's "new European small car." With Chrysler planning to bring the SmartCar to the US next year, maybe (please maybe) we'll see some focus on small and fuel-efficient vehicles vs. gas-guzzling behemoths!
• GM is taking bloggers (and there are a number of us) on a "walk-through" of the Chevy Volt, their concept plug-in hybrid.

I'll also be talking to a couple of GM execs later today, and hope to have audio of the discussion for you.

GM is sponsoring my trip to the Auto Show — they've done the same for a whole slew of bloggers — we're well-represented! They've asked that we disclose that relationship, and we're happy to do it.

Got to run… that seems to be standard operating procedure at these things… back with more later!