The Chevrolet Volt electric car is Motor Trend magazine's 2011 car of the year.
Motor Trend says the Volt has some of the most advanced engineering ever seen in an American car. The Volt can run up to 50 miles in pure electric mode before a backup gas engine kicks in to give it more range.
Motor Trend also said Tuesday that the car is a great value. It costs $33,500 with a federal tax credit, but will likely be cheaper to run than a traditional hybrid. The Volt goes on sale next month.
The award was good news for General Motors as it prepares an initial public offering of stock on Thursday.
Automakers often cite the Motor Trend awards in advertising. Last year's car winner was the Ford Fusion.
GM said Tuesday it would be stepping up production of the Volt to meet "huge demand."
GM product chief Tom Stephens said: "If you look at where we were originally, in terms of what we thought the volume would be, we have stepped it up."
Stephens declined to give a new production forecast. Most recently, GM, the world's No. 2 automaker, had said it planned to build 10,000 Volts in 2011 and 45,000 in 2012.
He confirmed that GM had asked South Korea's LG Chem, which began supplying batteries for the Volt in September under a six-year exclusive contract, to increase its production.
"What do you hope for if you're in the manufacturing business?" Stephens said. "To always have more demand than you can supply. They always say that's a good problem to have. That's the problem that we have right now."
Stephens said he expected the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to publish its fuel efficiency rating for the Volt -- a necessary step needed before the cars can be sold -- "any day now."
Stephens would not discuss GM's landmark IPO, which will lower the government's stake in the company and has grown in size in recent days due to strong investor interest.
