Just when we thought that Geneva 2011 has no more surprises to offer, General Motors dropped the bomb on us with a bit of a sibling rivalry.

Chevrolet Volt

It seems Chevrolet will be sending their Volt over to Europe and that means it will be fighting with it’s almost twin brother, the Opel Ampera for market share.

I find this to be one of the most stupid choices a parent company can make but hey, the Citroen C1, Peugeot 107 and Toyota Aygo were in the same situation and they manage ok.

With the Opel Ampera and Chevrolet Volt it might be more complicated because none of them is a volume product. There’s orders, waiting lists and prices to be considered before buying one.

Chevrolet Volt

And while in terms of brand prestige and looks these cars aren’t easy to separate, the Chevrolet Volt leaps ahead in terms of pricing about 1000 euros lower.

Both cars offer the same EV with range extender capabilities drivetrain and both cars come with a 8 year or 160.000 km warranty and roughly the same options.

This will be one interesting GM situation to keep watch of.

Opel Ampera

The Chevrolet Ampera and the Opel Volt (or something like that) will both go on sale towards the end of 2011 and “weirdly” enough are both built in the same plant at Detroit Hamtramck plant in Michigan, US.