Chevrolet could be as big as Opel/Vauxhall in Europe, believes GM Europe sales and marketing vice-president Jonathan Browning. And trebling last year's European sales of 450,000 is a realistic ambition, he said.

"I believe Chevrolet could sell up to 1.5 million cars in Europe in the medium term," Browning said on the eve of the Geneva Motor Show. He's not putting a timeframe on the target, only to say it could be achieved "within five-to-ten years".

The booming central and eastern European market, where Chevrolet, as a low-cost brand, has a strong appeal, would drive growth for the Chevrolet brand. Bizarrely, the iconic American brand has found favour in Russia, now the largest European market for Chevrolet – largely thanks to the 55,000 Chevrolet Niva SUVs built in GM's joint venture with AvtoVAZ.

Lada-maker AvtoVAZ last week finalised its new JV with Renault, but Browning said this deal would not spell the end of the seven-year-old GM venture. "I don't see any reason to do anything different," he said. Chevrolet achieved a 7 per cent stake of the fast-growing Russian market last year – way ahead of its European average of around 1 per cent. A range of Chevrolet and Opel models will be built in Russia from late 2008 when a new CKD assembly plant near St Petersburg comes on line.

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