OnStar blows a secret: Looks like Chevy's new nameplate is SS
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You can report a traffic accident on OnStar. But what button do you push to get the cat back into the bag?
The in-vehicle communications unit of General Motors apparently blew a company secret by indicating that the new nameplate Chevrolet will bring out in 2014 will be called the SS.
A page on the OnStar Web site listed GM models compatible with a mobile app that gives owners remote vehicle access through their smartphones. Under the list of 2014 Chevy models, sandwiched between the Silverado and the Traverse, was the name "SS Performance."
Christopher Price, a tech blogger at christopherprice.net, says he stumbled across the apparent blunder while looking up the OnStar vehicle profile for his 2009 Pontiac G6. GM has since removed the 2014 list from the Web site.
And last week the auto-buff Web site gmauthority.com reported that GM has filed for U.S. patent rights that would make a trademark of the SS badge.
The blogosphere has been abuzz with speculation since last month, when GM confirmed it will replace Chevy's current NASCAR entry, the Impala, with a new race car. GM said a production version will closely match the race car and will hit Chevy showrooms as a new nameplate.
The smart money is on a civilian version of the V-8-powered, rear-wheel-drive Chevrolet Caprice PPV, which GM now imports for police fleets from its Holden unit in Australia.
A GM spokesman declined to comment on OnStar's apparent goof.
