GM's Mr. Reuss also sees fuel prices playing a factor in a sales shift to smaller vehicles.

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"We're selling more cars, but we're not flowing nearly enough to the bottom line, " says Mark Reuss, president of North American operations.

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Ron Reuss, economist at Piper Capital Management, based in Minneapolis, Minn.

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Mark Reuss, president of GM North America, was even blunter.

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But each generation was different, noted Reuss, who recalls being squeezed in the back of a Corvette while riding around with his father, former GM President Lloyd Reuss.

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"When you engineer a technology-filled, all-electric mini car that goes from zero-to-60 mph in less than eight seconds, customers won't miss the gas, " said Mark Reuss, president, General Motors North America.

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"This is the name we use to mark special generations of Corvette, " says General Motors (GM) North America president Mark Reuss, explicitly linking the new Stingray with the iconic 1963 version made famous by Elvis.

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But Reuss is only half-right.

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