Live from Detroit!: The General screams green

We’ve already spilled the goods on the 2010 production versions of the Chevrolet Equinox and Cadillac SRX mid-size crossovers, and Buick Allure. Plus the CTS Coupe and Sport Wagon, that were originally planned for last year's L.A. show.

But the General came up with two surprises this morning that scream green.

We got a tease of the production version of Chevrolet’s new subcompact Beat last week. Today, however, GM revealed an illustration of the final version and a confirmation of its on sale date in 2011 and a new name: Spark.

The automaker also revealed that’s Orlando mini-minivan (think Chevy Mazda5.) First seen last fall in Paris, and originally planned for foreign markets only, the Orlando, right, will be joining the Spark in Chevy showrooms in North America that same year.

Rumours of a Cadillac version of the Chevrolet Volt hybrid were made a reality this morning, as the last new vehicle to roll on stage was the Converj concept.

Now the fourth GM E-Flex platform concept (following Chevy, Ople and Saturn) GM says the Converj was designed to be “beautiful first, electric second.

Looks like Lexus HS 250h, Toyota's luxury version of its new 2010 Prius, just got some competition.