Germany, Korea, China, and now India are all venues for U.S. carmaking giant General Motors’ new all-electric hotness, the Chevrolet Beat.

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The Beat sounds like exactly the thing to revive the flagging fortunes of G.M., bringing it into a 20th century in which soaring gas prices and ever-cheaper battery technology push consumers into the arms of the Nissan Leaf and the forthcoming Ford electric vehicles.

Except G.M. has no plans to release the Beat in the U.S., much less its electrified version. Maybe once your CEO has gone on record saying that global warming is a crock of sh*t, you don’t want to lose face in front of corporate America by releasing an electric car … even if it could save your company.

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