xcel
10-21-2006, 02:57 AM
The production of test models begins next week. Sales to the public start next year. (http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/business/companies/15801750.htm?source=rss&channel=kansascity_companies)
Randolph Heaster - Kansas City Star - Oct. 20, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Saturn_Aura.jpg
Saturn Aura Greenline hybrid - Estimated FE of just 23/33?
General Motors Corp.’s Fairfax plant next week will begin making the new Saturn Aura sedan’s hybrid version before they go on sale early next year, a union official said Thursday.
John Melton, bargaining chairman of United Auto Workers Local 31, said employees would begin producing about five hybrids a week, cars that will be road-tested before GM begins making them for public sale next year.
Mike Morrissey, a Saturn spokesman, said the Aura Green Line would be in production and in dealer showrooms by the spring of 2007.
The Aura Green Line will be the second hybrid vehicle made in the Kansas City area. Ford Motor Co. makes a hybrid version of its Ford Escape-Mercury Mariner sport-utility vehicle at the Claycomo plant.
In 2004, GM said it would build a hybrid version of the Chevrolet Malibu in 2007. Paul Marr, the Fairfax plant’s manager, said last week that a Malibu hybrid now would be made after the Aura Green Line’s launch.
Melton speculated that GM decided to make a hybrid of the Aura first because the Saturn brand already has produced a hybrid SUV, the Vue Green Line.
The Aura Green Line’s power train will be similar to the Vue Green Line’s, Morrissey said.
The Aura Green Line will be what some auto observers call a “mild hybrid,” which has a smaller battery pack than a full-hybrid vehicle such as the Escape and Mariner. A mild hybrid allows the engine to be turned off while coasting, braking or stopping, yet restart quickly. However, unlike a full hybrid, a mild hybrid does not allow the electric motor to power the vehicle at any speed.
One advantage of a mild-hybrid vehicle such as the Aura, according to auto reviewers, is that it will have nearly the same amount of trunk space as a non-hybrid version.
The standard Aura gets 20 miles per gallon in city driving and 28 or 29 miles a gallon on the highway.
While Saturn has not released any fuel economy numbers for the Aura Green Line, Melton said he expected the hybrid version to get 10-15 percent better gas mileage. The mild-hybrid version of the Chevrolet Silverado pickup gets about 10 percent better gas mileage than the conventional Silverado.
GM launched its Saturn Aura production at the Fairfax plant in August. Last month, 40 percent of the vehicles made there were Auras and 60 percent were Malibus.
A price has not been announced for the hybrid car, but the suggested manufacturer’s price for the conventional Aura ranges from $19,945 to $23,945.
Randolph Heaster - Kansas City Star - Oct. 20, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Saturn_Aura.jpg
Saturn Aura Greenline hybrid - Estimated FE of just 23/33?
General Motors Corp.’s Fairfax plant next week will begin making the new Saturn Aura sedan’s hybrid version before they go on sale early next year, a union official said Thursday.
John Melton, bargaining chairman of United Auto Workers Local 31, said employees would begin producing about five hybrids a week, cars that will be road-tested before GM begins making them for public sale next year.
Mike Morrissey, a Saturn spokesman, said the Aura Green Line would be in production and in dealer showrooms by the spring of 2007.
The Aura Green Line will be the second hybrid vehicle made in the Kansas City area. Ford Motor Co. makes a hybrid version of its Ford Escape-Mercury Mariner sport-utility vehicle at the Claycomo plant.
In 2004, GM said it would build a hybrid version of the Chevrolet Malibu in 2007. Paul Marr, the Fairfax plant’s manager, said last week that a Malibu hybrid now would be made after the Aura Green Line’s launch.
Melton speculated that GM decided to make a hybrid of the Aura first because the Saturn brand already has produced a hybrid SUV, the Vue Green Line.
The Aura Green Line’s power train will be similar to the Vue Green Line’s, Morrissey said.
The Aura Green Line will be what some auto observers call a “mild hybrid,” which has a smaller battery pack than a full-hybrid vehicle such as the Escape and Mariner. A mild hybrid allows the engine to be turned off while coasting, braking or stopping, yet restart quickly. However, unlike a full hybrid, a mild hybrid does not allow the electric motor to power the vehicle at any speed.
One advantage of a mild-hybrid vehicle such as the Aura, according to auto reviewers, is that it will have nearly the same amount of trunk space as a non-hybrid version.
The standard Aura gets 20 miles per gallon in city driving and 28 or 29 miles a gallon on the highway.
While Saturn has not released any fuel economy numbers for the Aura Green Line, Melton said he expected the hybrid version to get 10-15 percent better gas mileage. The mild-hybrid version of the Chevrolet Silverado pickup gets about 10 percent better gas mileage than the conventional Silverado.
GM launched its Saturn Aura production at the Fairfax plant in August. Last month, 40 percent of the vehicles made there were Auras and 60 percent were Malibus.
A price has not been announced for the hybrid car, but the suggested manufacturer’s price for the conventional Aura ranges from $19,945 to $23,945.