Autoblog

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Opel Insignia.

Despite repeated rumblings from industry sources (including Lutz himself) that the Opel Insignia's transformation into a Saturn model was on hold, Bob Lutz now indicates that work is indeed proceeding on making that model ready for the American market. Changes are going to be made to both the interior and the exterior of the Insignia as it morphs into the Aura. Lutz also indicates that the two Epsilon II-based cars will share suspension bits and powertrains, though we are not sure just how many of the six available gas and diesel engines in the Euro-only Opel will make their way Stateside. Also debatable is the Insignia's Haldex all-wheel-drive system that will be offered across the pond. Whatever the case, we hope that the car doesn't see too many changes as it's an extremely attractive and compelling package as it currently sits. Bring it.


[Source: Autoweek]

Click the image above for a high-res view.

Need a new car? If you're the Saturn Astra is on your shopping list, be wary of saliva spots... and while you're at it, pucker up. GM is running a Saturn "Kiss My Astra" contest, in which entrants are directed to capture their adventures in Saturn smooching on camera and upload them to the I M Saturn website. There, the online community of Saturn fans (we know, we were surprised, too) will judge the photos and declare a winner in September. The prize is a Saturn Astra XR. You're free to make out with any Astra you like, even your neighbor's, though you might officially become the neighborhood weirdo if people catch you locking lips with their ride. GM's Bob Lutz demonstrates his man-car love technique in the enclosed galery. Somebody turn a hose on this guy.


[Source: Inside Line]

General Motor's car czar, Bob Lutz, sat down with the little people of the blogosphere after GM's announcement that it would be reducing white collar expenditures by 20-percent, cutting truck production and eliminating retired health care for salaried workers over 65, all in an effort to boost its liquidity by $15 billion by the end of 2009.

Maximum Bob addressed questions about GM's entire brand portfolio, saying, "Pontiac will be nourished with products" and confirming that GM is in talks with financial institutions about HUMMER, and that, "If we could sell the brand, we'd be interested in doing that."

Predictably, much of the conversation centered on fuel efficiency and the General's plans to address the growing demand for miserly transport in the U.S. Lutz made it clear that "as fuel costs in the U.S. begin to resemble those in the rest of the world" it will be easier for GM to realign its products on a global scale.

[Photo: David McNew/Getty]

HEY GM, BRING BACK THE EV1

A decade ago General Motors put one of the coolest cars of all time on the road, the EV1. While there were a number of hard-core EV enthusiasts who became passionately committed to the car, it never caught on with the masses. But that was then and this is now. GM should seriously consider putting the EV1 back into production.

John McElroy is host of the TV program "Autoline Detroit". Every week he brings his unique insights as an auto industry insider to Autoblog readers. Follow the jump to continue reading this week's editorial.

Click above for high-res gallery of the Opel Insignia

After seeing plenty of shots of Opel's new Insignia mid-sizer, we're anxiously awaiting General Motor's official announcement of its statewide debut as the next-gen Saturn Aura. Unfortunately, current rumors indicate that we'll be waiting a bit longer than initially planned, as the project has reportedly been put on hold for an undetermined amount of time. We're fuzzy on what prompted the hold-up, though some conjecture has been heard regarding the fuel economy of the impending vehicle. In Europe, there are four gasoline engines and three diesels available, though we have serious doubts that many if any of those powerplants will make it Stateside. It's certainly possible that today's high fuel prices are causing GM to rethink getting one of its smaller gas engines certified for sale in the U.S. We can be sure, though, that this expected new vehicle launch will be an important one for the future of the Saturn brand, so perhaps GM is wise to get everything sorted out before its official debut. Thanks for the tip, Mark!


[Source: GM Inside News]

During a dealer teleconference today, General Motors announced it would be launching a zero-percent financing sale beginning tomorrow, while simultaneously raising the prices of its 2009 vehicles.

The "72-hour sale" will run from June 24th through the 30th, and will offer customers 0-percent interest rates for 72 months on most Chevys, Buicks, Pontiacs and GMC vehicles. So far, there's no word on whether the offer will extend to Cadillac and Saturn. GM will also offer $500 in "bonus cash" to buyers who opt to purchase GM products outright rather than leasing them.

At the same time, the General is going to be raising the prices of 2009 models by an average of 3.5-percent "across the board," something that was bound to happen, according to Mark LaNeve, GM's vice president of vehicles sales, service and marketing.

On the production front, GM will be adding a third shift to its Lordstown, Ohio plant to increase production of the Pontiac G5 and Chevy Cobalt, while at the same time boosting production of the Pontiac G6, Chevy Malibu and Saturn Aura through the use of maximum overtime. Also of note: GM has hired Citibank to investigate the future of the HUMMER brand, which comes in the wake of GM's CEO, Rick Wagoner's announcement that "all options" are on the table regarding GM's faltering off-road brand.

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req.]

The Saturn Green Line is no longer. In its stead, the planetary brand's hybrid models will simply be known as hybrids. We think this is a good idea considering that the word 'hybrid' is much more readily associated with saving gas than the Green Line moniker. According to Mike Morrissey, a Saturn spokesman, "It was simply a practical matter. As we expand our hybrid lineup, the names were getting a bit long. It's hard to write a short sentence about the Saturn Vue Green Line 2-Mode Hybrid." Amen to that. Though the Green Line name will disappear, the performance version of Saturn's models will retain their Red Line badges.

Saturn's current green line of hybrids includes two models, the Aura and the Vue, both equipped with the so-called "mild hybrid" system that is not capable of moving the vehicle under electric power alone. Next year, a version of the Vue utility vehicle will be offered with a system derived from what is currently available in the Tahoe and Yukon full-sizers known as the 2-Mode. That model will be a full hybrid and should return much better mileage than the current Vue hybrid, which is rated at 25 mpg in the city and 32 on the highway.

[Source: Kicking Tires]

While sales of the newly-minted (at least for the U.S.) Saturn Astra aren't exactly setting the world on fire, we found it to be a rather good vehicle with a chassis capable of handling plenty more power when we had it in our garage. Auto Express has what they claim is an official picture of the next-gen Vauxhall Astra VXR, which is sold in its base-model form as a Saturn in the states, and it looks pretty good. Expected in Europe is a new 1.8-liter turbocharged engine sending around 240 horsepower to the front wheels and possibly a diesel as well. These engine are not currently certified for sale in the U.S., but GM's excellent 260 horsepower 2.0-liter Ecotec, as is available in the HHR SS, is ready and waiting -- and we'd love to see a Saturn Astra Redline powered by it. We'd be more than happy to see the attractive nineteen inch rims and aggressive body kit make it stateside too. As evidenced by today's current crop of hot hatches, such as the Volkswagen GTI and Mazdaspeed3, a small performance car, when done right, can sell in the U.S. Auto Express also indicates that this vehicle is likely to be shown in concept form at the upcoming Paris Motor Show in October.

[Source: Auto Express]

As much as General Motors would like to sell more hybrids, we'd imagine it would be pretty tough to do so without having the batteries on hand. It turns out that since December of last year, GM has had to recall some nine-thousand battery packs produced by its supplier, Cobasys, which were due for installation in mild hybrid versions of the Chevrolet Malibu, Saturn Vue and Saturn Aura. The culprit was reportedly an internal leak in the pack which caused the entire unit to be inoperable. This setback hurts even more in the face of record gasoline prices and the resultant record sales of hybrid vehicles.

Chevrolet plans to begin production of the 2009 Malibu hybrid on June 23. Cobasys says that it has resolved the leaky battery problem and that current units are shipping without defects. Unfortunately, some damage has already been done, especially for the Saturn brand, as sales of the hybrid version of the Vue have gone down from 2,683 units by this time last year to just 326 units thus far this year to go along with just 69 retail sales of the Aura hybrid.

[Source: Detroit News]

Building a car is an enormously complex and expensive process. With all the safety regulations that have to be met in order to sell a new car, startup companies that want to build electric vehicles have mostly taken one of two paths to the road. The first is one taken by companies like Zap and Aptera. Those companies are building three-wheeled vehicles which are classed as motorcycles and thus exempt from safety rules. The other path is the one chosen by Phoenix Motorcars, where an existing vehicle platform is converted to electric drive. Advanced Mechanical Products of Cincinnati OH is following the latter path.

AMP is offering up an electrically-driven version of the Saturn Sky to those who want an emissions-free (direct emissions anyway, power plants are another story) sports car for less money than a Tesla Roadster. AMP takes a Sky and removes the EcoTec four-cylinder drivetrain. A battery pack goes in its place underhood and a pair of electric motors and electronics get installed in the back end. The AMP website lists the price for the conversion at $25,000 plus the cost of a new Sky, which puts the total at about half the price of a Tesla. They say it will go 150 miles on a charge and 0-60 in 5.7 seconds. The only problem with that claim is that a battery pack that can provide that kind of range would likely weigh around 800 lbs or more and be considerably larger than the one shown in the illustration. That kind of mass over the front wheels would not help the Sky's handling. There is also no indication that a working prototype of this thing even exists or when deliveries would begin. We'll look into this further over the long weekend, but as always, caveat emptor.

[Source: Advanced Mechanical Products, via AutoblogGreen]