A model stands next to Chevrolet's new Volt at the Orange County Auto Show on Oct. 7, 2010. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)

General Motors is stepping up production of its new Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle to try to meet “huge demand,” a top executive said on Tuesday.

Speaking at an event where the Volt was named Motor Trend magazine’s 2011 Car of the Year, 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. Get the full story »