2008 Saturn Vue Green Line Preview

Saturn Hybrid SUV Gets New Look

The hybrid SUV continues with the same powertrain, but all new looks.

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Its gas/electric powertrain may be the same as the outgoing model for the time being, but the compact 2008 Saturn Vue Green Line hybrid introduced at the Chicago Auto Show in February receives an all-new body, as does the entire Vue lineup. It looks similar to the Opel Antara sold in Europe. The Vue Green Line’s hybrid setup is a low-cost system designed to get the price of the hybrid option down — to about a $2,000 upcharge in the old 2007 model, and likely a similar amount in this one, with a fuel-economy advantage of about 20 percent over the Vue with a conventional four-cylinder engine. In fall 2008, a more advanced, two-mode hybrid system will become available in the 2009 Vue Green Line, one that can run at city speeds only on electricity, which will therefore offer a 45 percent bump up in fuel economy over a non-hybrid Vue. Saturn didn’t announce fuel-consumption figures for the 2008 Vue Green Line, but with the same powertrain, it likely won’t be far from the 27 mpg city/32 mpg highway Saturn cites for the 2007 Vue Green Line.

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