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With new models and potential production plans, General Motors showed today that Saturn is central to its clean transportation contest with Toyota. First thing this morning, GM announced that it may begin production of a plug-in hybrid Saturn Vue Green Line as soon as 2010. The new hybrid-electric Saturn Vue will leapfrog models like the Toyota Highlander hybrid to become the world's most fuel-efficient V6 SUV when it goes on sale late this year or early in 2009, General Motors promises.

The new Saturn Vue Green line gasoline-electric hybrid coming next summer will add a twist to the hybrid equation: a more affordable price. Value, along with better fuel economy and lower emissions, will be the key selling points of the vehicle.

Saturn is going green. The General Motors brand will launch a line of hybrid versions of its vehicles, to be called the Green Line series, Saturn General Manager Jill Lajdziak said at the annual Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City.

The audience of journalists at this afternoon's unveiling of the Saturn Vue hybrid leaned forward and strained to listen as guitarist Brian Lord stepped onto center stage for a very subdued rendition of Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive." Could they have forgotten to plug in his Paul Reed electric guitar? "Can't hear you!" someone blurted out. Out came a sound guy who plugged Lord in to kick off an explosion of power, lights and sound. Get it? GM's Saturn brand is all about plugging in.

The VUE Green Line will be the lowest priced hybrid available on the market, and will deliver an estimated 20% improvement in fuel economy.

Enter the Saturn Aura Greenline, which shares its drivetrain with the Saturn Vue Greenline SUV. It has this feature as well, plus a regenerative braking and battery charging arrangement and a gas-saving feature that shuts the fuel off during deceleration. It has a nickel metal-hydride battery pack, and although it will provide an electrical power "boost" at takeoff, it will not run on pure battery power alone. Still, in all other aspects, it's a hybrid vehicle.

Sources say that GM plans to unveil six new models, including two new concepts, at the Detroit auto show.

Tim Higgins from the Detroit Free Press: General Motors plans to use the plug-in hybrid technology long planned for its Saturn division in another brand's vehicle, a top company executive said Wednesday. GM had promised a plug-in Saturn Vue hybrid, slated for 2011. But last week GM announced plans to wind down the Saturn division earlier than previously expected. "I am not only going to put it on one of our other brands as a plug-in, but we're not going to delay it one day," Tom Stephens, GM's n...

The 2007 Saturn Vue Green Line gasoline-electric SUV coming this summer likely won't impress gearheads looking for the next big leap in hybrid drivetrains. But that's not the customer General Motors is going after. The Vue Green Line is the first budget hybrid. It will carry a price premium of $1,500 to $2,000, putting a hybrid SUV within reach of buyers who have about $21,500 to spend. Price premiums on other hybrids range from $3,000 to $5,000.

Saturn will drop its "Green Line" badge with the 2009 model year, though the General Motors brand will introduce a growing family of the hybrid gasoline-electric models for which it created the Green Line name. GM has decided that simply calling gasoline-electric vehicles hybrids – the term everybody understands – makes more sense than coming up with cutesy marketing names. In addition, Saturn should shortly have three types of hybrids on the road – a wider array than any other brand. Each...

From Edmunds.com: Bob Kruse, the automaker's executive director of global vehicle engineering, participated in a GMnext.com chat session last week and updated participants on the progress of the Volt and the Saturn Vue plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. "Both programs are proceeding nicely," he said. "I was just at our proving ground yesterday [April 10] with the actual development vehicles. They are for real. "We are developing a series of advanced technology to allow us to provide triple-digit f...