With hybrid sales on the decline, now is a good time—best time ever, actually—to buy a hybrid of any sort. To top it off, the Saturn Aura Green Line hybrid is the least expensive one out there. The Saturn Aura Green Line has a $1,300 tax rebate. Its Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price, including delivery fees, is $22,695, which makes it $195 less than the Toyota Prius...
The Toyota Prius lists at $22,795. The current tax rebate is $1,575, which drops to a projected $788 in April.
Full story here at AutoObserver: Saturn Aura Green Line: Least expensive hybrid
Full story here at AutoObserver: Saturn Aura Green Line: Least expensive hybrid
ateixeira says:
10:56 AM, 03/19/07
Cheapest, but it's only a mild hybrid, so it won't come close to matching the fuel economy of the Camry, never mind the Prius.
Motorweek tested the Vue Green line, which gets a similar drivetrain, and it only did 1 mpg better than a non-hybrid CR-V. The Escape hybrid was noticeably better.
We'll see if they tuned this one better, but if not the whole idea of a hybrid is pointless.
carlisimo says:
12:01 PM, 03/19/07
That's great, to have a cheap hybrid option. Is it actually cheaper than the Civic hybrid?
But I'm standing by my gut feeling about GM. Instead of offering less for less, they should offer more for more. Maybe the lower volume would cancel out the higher profit margins, but it'd be good for GM's reputation. Try being the best for once.
trjnflip says:
12:42 PM, 03/19/07
GM hybrids are like the Vizio brand of plasma TVs.
mr42hh says:
03:16 AM, 03/20/07
So according to GM, this thing does what? 28/36. That's kind of lame.
The european GM equivalent, the Opel/Vauxhall Vectra with the 150hp diesel, gets 32 mpg city, 50 mpg highway.
Why didn't they just bring that engine over? Would have been their chance to beat the Passat to market.
ateixeira says:
07:32 AM, 03/20/07
The non-hybrid Altima 2.5S nearly matches those numbers. They're pretty pathetic.