Growth for the Chevrolet brand would be driven by the booming central and eastern European market, where Chevrolet, as a low-cost brand, has a strong appeal. Bizarrely, the iconic American brand has found favour in Russia, now the largest European market for Chevrolet – largely thanks to the 55,000 Chevrolet Niva SUVs built in GM's joint venture with AvtoVAZ.

Lada-maker AvtoVAZ last week finalised its new JV with Renault, but Browning said this deal would not spell the end of the seven-year-old GM venture. “I don't see any reason to do anything different,” he said. Chevrolet achieved a 7% stake of the fast-growing Russian market last year – way ahead of its European average of around 1%. A range of Chevrolet and Opel models will be built in Russia from late 2008 when a new CKD assembly plant near St Petersburg comes on line.

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