A handful of cars and trucks General Motors will introduce over the next eight years may determine whether the automaker survives to celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2108.

That's a blip on the timeline of a 100-year-old-company, but tough new fuel-economy requirements and GM's dwindling financial reserves leave the company with almost no room for error.

"There are two things we have to do better than anything else," Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner told me recently: design and advanced-propulsion technology.

Engineers and designers are already working on many of the vehicles that will determine GM's fate.

First and foremost is the Chevrolet Volt. The electric-powered compact is GM's chance to press the reset button on its public image. The car aims to go 40 miles on battery power alone, recharge from a household outlet and carry an onboard generator for longer trips.

Due to hit the road in 2010, the Volt epitomizes GM's desire to leapfrog the rest of the auto industry and reestablish itself as a leader, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said over lunch in his office recently.

We don't know yet what the rest of the upcoming vehicles will be, but we know what they have to do: establish GM as a leader in technology, fuel efficiency, design and performance.

GM must also finally clarify its muddled brand strategy. Chevrolet and Cadillac must reestablish themselves as global leaders. Opel, underappreciated by Americans, but responsible for nearly 2 million sales a year, must build on its strength in Europe, particularly with stronger midsize models. The Insignia sedan that goes on sale in 2009 is the first test for Opel.

TECHNOLOGY

A host of other engineering projects have to pay off as well. GM needs new materials to make its cars lighter, and a variety of advanced powertrain technologies must deliver outstanding fuel economy and exciting performance.

GM should have a midsize sedan and subcompact with EPA highway ratings of at least 40 mpg and 50 mpg, respectively, by the middle of the next decade at the latest if it wants to be recognized as a leader.

A key yardstick for success will be the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze compact. The closer its EPA highway rating comes to 42 or 43 mpg, the better the odds GM will succeed.

DESIGN

Each brand needs a vehicle to embody its virtues and create a desirable image for buyers. Cadillac and Chevrolet have those with the CTS, Malibu and Traverse.

Buick, Pontiac and Saturn lack such defining models. GM design chief Ed Welburn says the 1953 Skylark and the 1938 Y-Job concept will inspire elegant and flowing design for future Buicks.

Pontiac is working on designs to embody cat-like agility and what Welburn calls "seductive performance." He cites the 1968 GTO as a car that captured those elements in its time.

The ability of the company's engineers and product planners to create platforms and powertrains that live up to the vehicles' looks may decide if GM can support a family of brands, or whether it retrenches to Cadillac, Chevrolet and Opel.