Saturn loss hurts GM hybrid sales

General Motors will lose up to a quarter of its hybrid sales by selling off or closing its Saturn brand by 2010, a move that it confirmed yesterday.

Saturn’s two hybrid models, the Vectra-based Aura hybrid, and the Vauxhall Antara-based Saturn Vue hybrid, sold 5838 units between them in 2008, around 25 per cent of GM’s overall hybrid sales.

It’s likely, however, that the core hybrid technology from the two Saturns will be transferred to the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC brands. This would include Saturn’s forthcoming two-mode Vue hybrid.

Matt Rigby