Teased: GMC Granite Concept for 2010 Detroit Auto Show

DETROIT — In the run up to the 2010 Detroit Auto Show, GM began teasing its GMC Granite Concept on one of its corporate blogs last night.

In the blog post, Frank Saucedo, who heads GM's advanced design studio outside Los Angeles, says the vehicle is "as efficient as it is chic, innovative as it is functional."

Saucedo further explains: "Our goal was to create the next generation of urban mobility, fusing a flexible, functional social space with an urban-box design that's equally at home at the cabin or the club."

One of the images on the blog shows a line drawing overlapping the Granite with the GMC Terrain and the Scion xB. The Granite is substantially smaller than the Terrain, and nearly identical in size to the xB.

We'll have a detailed report — including full images of the vehicle — from next week's auto show.

Inside Line says: Let's hope this concept will make a more convincing case to keep the GMC brand around than GM executives have so far. — Paul Lienert, Correspondent