Sneak peek: Turbocharged 2011 Buick Regal sedan

Buick’s second all-new model since GM emerged from bankruptcy will take a classic name: Regal. The Regal will debut at the LA Auto Show next month.

Smaller than Buick’s other new model, the LaCrosse, the Regal is about the size of the Acura TSX and the Volvo S60. It will have a choice of two four-cylinder engines: a 2.4-liter, making 182 hp, and a turbocharged 2.0-liter version putting out 220 hp. Each will come with a standard six-speed automatic transmission.

Adjustable suspension in the turbocharged model will have three settings: Normal, Touring, and Sport. Supposedly, the Touring mode will soften the suspension for highway drives, while Sport will firm it up for winding roads.

The standard model goes on sale in the spring, with the turbo following next June.

The new Regal is based on the European Opel Insignia and has already been a hit in China. Pricing has not yet been announced. No news yet about resurrecting the grand daddies of all Buick muscle cars: The Grand Sport or Grand National.

—Eric Evarts 

Cadillac Converj plug-in hybrid gets green light

When it comes to talk about GM’s future cars, the Chevrolet Volt gets all the attention. But the Volt isn’t the only extended-range electric vehicle General Motors has on its drawing boards, according to an article this week by the Detroit News.

According to the report, General Motors’s board decided to build the Cadillac Converj, a luxury coupe derived from the Volt. The company showed a concept of the Converj at last year’s Detroit Auto Show. Like the Volt, the Cadillac Converj will have batteries capable of driving 40 miles that will be charged from an electric socket. After that, small-displacement, four-cylinder gas engine will start to enable longer trips. It will undoubtedly offer luxury features unavailable in the Volt and sell at a higher price, allowing GM to accelerate the return on its investment in the Volt. The Volt is expected to sell for $40,000 and is eligible for a $7,500 federal tax rebate. The Converj could be expected to sell for significantly more. There was no target date announced.

A third version of the Volt, the Opel Ampera, is expected to be sold in Europe, starting in 2011.

—Eric Evarts 

Fisker buys former Pontiac and Saturn factory from GM

Fisker Automotive, a company that plans to begin selling an advanced plug-in hybrid luxury sedan next spring, agreed to buy the former General Motors assembly facility in Wilmington, Del., for $18 million. The Wilmington plant was used to make the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky roadsters. Fisker said it was interested in the plant because of its size and its proximity to rail lines and a port.
 
The Obama Administration has talked a lot about its goal to develop jobs in the green economy to replace the traditional manufacturing jobs the U.S. has lost, specifically by building electric cars. An announcement today by Vice President Joe Biden marked the beginning of that process.
 
Fisker will spend an additional $175 million to retool the Wilmington facility to build a new plug-in model that is expected to cost about $48,000 before federal tax rebates. (Fisker’s first model, a luxury four-passenger sedan dubbed the Karma, is expected to cost almost $90,000. It will be built in Finland starting next year.) The company says more than half the production of the new model will be exported.
 
The $193 million investment came from a $528.7 million loan Fisker received as part of the $25 billion federal Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program (ATVM). The rest of the loan will pay for further development of the Karma and the Project NINA.
 
The new model, now dubbed Project NINA, is scheduled to begin production in 2014. Once the Wilmington factory is up and running, Fisker optimistically expects to produce 75,000 to 100,000 cars and employ 2,000 factory workers in Biden’s home state, as well as 3,000 supplier jobs.
 
—Eric Evarts

Trash into gas: Coskata launches demonstration scale cellulosic ethanol biorefinery

The greatest promise for biofuels is to produce a combustible liquid fuel from any kind of waste material. That’s what Coskata, a startup company with investment capital from General Motors,  claims it can do with new, patented technology. (Read "GM invests in cellulosic ethanol.")
 
Yesterday, the company said it got one step closer to that goal with the launch of a demonstration plant in Madison, PA. 

Coskata claims it can convert any type of waste material containing carbon into syngas, by heating it to 8,000 degrees Fahrenheit. (Syngas is a gaseous combination of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and sometimes carbon dioxide with less than half the energy density of natural gas.) Patented microorganisms then convert the syngas into ethanol, in a process that saves a step compared to other methods of producing ethanol from cellulose, or woody plant fibers.
 
The company has not revealed the plant capacity, but demonstration plants of this sort are usually built to produce about 10 million gallons of ethanol a year. A 100-million gallon plant is generally considered optimum for a profitable commercial plant.
 
So far, Coskata’s demonstration plant is running on wood chips, but the company says its process could work on any type of feedstock from corn stover to municipal garbage.
 
Whether it makes sense to use ethanol as an alternative fuel is a hotly debated topic. Consumer Reports tested a Chevrolet Tahoe flex-fuel vehicle running on E85 and gasoline, and found that its fuel economy dropped 27 percent, from a poor 14 mpg overall on gasoline to a dismal 10 mpg on ethanol. Even though a gallon of E85 ethanol costs less on average than gasoline ($2.13 nationwide average this summer, vs $2.44), it would cost a consumer more than $450 a year extra to fuel the Tahoe with E85 instead of gasoline due to the fuel economy differences. Most flex-fuel vehicles on the market today are large trucks and SUVs such as the Tahoe, incentivized by a federal fuel economy credit applicable to corporate fleet averages (CAFE) regardless whether the vehicles are actually operated with E85.
 
Ethanol supporters make the case that crops grown to produce ethanol absorb carbon-dioxide from the atmosphere, which would help slow global warming.
 
The U.S. government supports ethanol as a short-term substitute for petroleum consumption to wean the country off its dependence on foreign oil. Ethanol supporters hope that using waste materials instead of corn will eventually bring prices down and remove concerns about producing fuel from potential food stocks. However, converting trash or wood chips into ethanol would emit more carbon dioxide than refining gasoline, and it would not offset this increase by growing new crops.
 
In the final analysis, switching to any type of alternative fuel to reduce American demand for oil is likely cost consumers more.

—Eric Evarts

Learn about driving green in the Consumer Reports special fuel economy section.

Should I buy a Saturn car?

General Motors stopped building Saturn cars and SUVs immediately following the announcement that Penske Automotive Group would not to buy the rights to the brand. GM now plans to sell off the remaining 12,000 Saturns by the end of January 2010, shutting down the brand, much like it is with Pontiac right now. Saturn dealers are watching the calendar closely, and it is a safe bet that there will be significant incentives offered on these last vehicles. But should you purchase a Saturn now? In a word, no.
 
There are five Saturn models for 2009, but only the Aura has both performed well enough and been reliable enough to earn our Recommendation. (See all Recommended cars.)
 
Beyond our assessment of the product line, buying from a retiring brand carries certain inherent risks. For instance, upfront savings will most assuredly be offset by significant depreciation. (If you typically drive your cars into the ground, this may not matter much.) It is not uncommon to see GM vehicles carry $1,500 or more in rebates. How much more will they put on the hood to move the Saturns than the nearby Chevrolets? Another one to two thousand? It is very safe to assume the same amount is cut from the eventual trade-in value right from the start. We saw this with Oldsmobile and are witnessing it with Pontiac. Same will hold true for Saturn; it isn’t that different of a car company in the end.
 
General Motors has said it will honor Saturn warranty claims, maintenance, and repair needs at other, surviving GM franchises. However, best corporate intentions won’t make those dealerships more convenient, better stocked with parts, or better trained.
 
As we found in our investigations during the so-called auto crisis, while dealerships may perform work on models from other brands, there are practical limitations to parts inventory and technician training. Simple work like a routine service call is not a problem. For example, a Chevrolet mechanic who works on a Chevy Traverse or Malibu will find a Saturn Outlook or Aura familiar, they may not have the experience to tackle a problem with the Opel-sourced Astra or the low-volume Sky roadster. In such cases, even a warranty request would be deferred to another dealership.
 
Would you be able to fix a Saturn for years to come? Absolutely. It just may not be as convenient or inexpensive as in years past. What once may have been a quick service visit before work may require a day off work to travel to a neighboring town or county. And the likelihood to needing a repair is higher than average with the Outlook, Sky, and Vue, according to our reliability surveys.
 
In theory, parts will remain available, yet with the supplier network struggling during the recession and many vendors closing or going through bankruptcy proceedings, there are no guaranties. Parts that were once stocked by your local Saturn dealership may become scarce. Despite GM assurances about parts availability, remember that just last month, we all thought Saturn would continue for many years to come. Hard to say definitively what a Saturn ownership experience will be like in the next decade.
 
As always, consumers should enter the buying process with eyes wide open. With Saturn, there are simply better alternatives that are more reliable, have lower owner costs, and do not carry undue risks.
 
—Jeff Bartlett
 
Related:
Unplugged: Saturn dealerships to close in four months
No Penske deal means end of the road for Saturn

GM ready to unload Hummer

General Motors is now one step closer to selling off the Hummer brand to Chinese company Tengzhong. Today GM announced that they are in a definitive agreement that will allow Tengzhong to acquire the Hummer brand and trademarks as well as rights to manufacture Hummer vehicles. Tengzhong will own 80 percent stake in the company and a private entrepreneur will hold the remaining 20 percent.

Part of the agreement requires Hummer to contract manufacturing and other services to GM for a period of time. The H3 and H3T will continue to be built in the Shreveport, Louisiana plant and the H2 at the Mishawaka Indiana plant until June 2011 with a possible one year extension. This is good news to the 3,000 plant workers who will continue to be employed.

Once the deal is final, Hummer is expected to offer an alternative power train in each model, E85 capability in the 2010 H3 and H3T, and the potential for a diesel engine in the H3 for markets outside of the U.S.

While the financial details were not officially announced, Bloomberg is reporting the sale is worth about $150 million, which is quite a bit less than the $500 million General Motors said it was seeking during bankruptcy proceedings. It looks like the collapse in negotiations for Saturn last week spurred GM to consider a lower price to keep this deal from falling through as well.

—Liza Barth 

Unplugged: Saturn dealerships to close in four months

Within hours after the collapse of the agreement to sell Saturn last week, General Motors built its last Saturn. GM says it plans to sell the remaining 12,000 cars on dealers’ lots by the end of January 2010. (Read “No Penske deal means end of the road for Saturn.”)

Saturn has been known for its customer-friendly dealerships, but when they sell their final cars, it will mark the end of the vaunted Saturn dealer network, following Pontiac into the history books.
 
General Motors has said that other GM franchises will be able to service Saturns and will honor Saturn warranties. But some Saturn owners have reported problems with other GM-brand dealerships not having parts or training to work on Saturns and not having access to Saturn’s computer system for warranty repairs.
 
If it’s going to sell 12,000 cars in four months, GM will likely offer sizeable incentives to buy them. But of the five Saturn models for 2009, only the Aura XR V6 performed well enough and was reliable enough to earn our Recommendation.
 
Our earlier concerns about what the future might hold for those buying a vehicle from a discontinued brand remain. (Read: “Should you buy a Hummer, Saab, or Saturn?”) Even with significant incentives, buying a Saturn now carries additional risks and there are simply better alternatives from other, more stable brands, including those within the remaining GM portfolio.
 
—Eric Evarts

Life after cash for clunkers: September auto sales

The much-publicized cash for clunkers program gave a shot of adrenaline to car sales this summer, inspiring purchases even from consumers who did not participate. With the $3 billion spent in moving people into more fuel-efficient vehicles, the question became, what would become of the market without the federal incentives? The answer: September sales figures show that all manufacturers saw a significant 35 to over 50 percent sales decrease compared to August. But--and here’s the good news--when compared to last September, a few manufacturers actually saw a sales increase, including Hyundai, Kia, and Subaru.

Here are the sales trends among the largest automakers:

Chrysler: Still struggling post bankruptcy, Chrysler saw a 42-percent decrease over last September and down 40 percent for the calendar year so far.

Ford: Helped by a sales surge from the redesigned Taurus, Ford showed only a small decrease of five percent over September 2008, but so far this year they are down 22 percent.

GM: Low inventory levels after the clunker program pushed General Motors to a decrease of 45 percent over last year and 36 percent decrease so far for 2009.

Honda: With a decrease in sales almost across the board (except the Pilot, which showed a small increase), Honda sales were down 23 percent over last year and 24 percent so far this year.

Hyundai: Continues to enjoy growth and increase market share. They reported a 27 percent increase over last September and a 1.4 increase year to date.

Nissan: Sales for September were down 7 percent over last year and 26 percent year to date. A number of vehicles, including the Nissan Maxima, 370Z, Pathfinder, and Frontier, as well as the Infiniti QX56, saw a gain over last year.

Subaru: Attributing its success to the redesigned Outback and Legacy models, Subaru saw an increase of 1 percent over last September and continues to have the highest sales percent increase of any manufacturer--up 10 percent for the calendar year so far.

Toyota: Overall sales were down 16 percent from last year and 27 percent year to date, but the Lexus division saw an increase of 7 percent over September 2008.

Even with help from last month’s cash for clunkers program, manufacturers are still struggling this year. As they enter the fourth quarter, we should see some more promotions and rebates to help drive up sales before the end of the year.

—Liza Barth 

No Penske deal means end of the road for Saturn

General Motors has announced that it will wind down its Saturn division, rather than sell it. GM had been in negotiations to sell Saturn to the Penske Automotive Group, a dealer conglomerate run by auto racing magnate Roger Penske.
 
The move reportedly comes after Penske was unable to secure new products beyond the proposed contract with GM to continue building Saturn cars through 2011.
 
The news may be a blow to current Saturn owners who now may face the closure of all Saturn dealerships and will have to find other GM dealers to service existing vehicles.
 
The breakdown of this deal marks the latest failure of the dedicated contract manufacturing business model in car sales. Since several large dealership groups have incorporated as public companies over the past dozen years, several of these dealer bodies have looked for an automaker with excess factory capacity to build cars for it. So far, none have borne fruit.

Among the Saturn Astra, Aura, Outlook, Sky, and Vue, only the Aura XR V6 meets Consumer Reports' standards to be recommended.

Sadly, Saturn is sharing its fate with Pontiac. We will watch with interest to see what the future holds for Hummer and Saab.

—Eric Evarts

Obama unveils 35 mpg requirement at GM factory

During a visit to a General Motors factory in Ohio today, President Obama formally unveiled new fuel economy regulations governing cars produced through 2016.
 
The new rules include the first federal limits on carbon dioxide for cars. Limiting carbon dioxide directly limits how much fuel a car can burn. The standards will set different fuel economy targets for different sizes of vehicles and will set individual mpg targets for each automaker based on the mix of vehicles of different sizes that it produces.
 
Overall, the targets will require that passenger vehicles average 35.5 mpg by 2016, broken down to 39 mpg for cars and 30 mpg for pickups, minivans, and SUVs. By 2012 new cars and trucks have to average 29.2 mpg. This will require a 40 percent improvement over current cars.
 
Automakers had a part in drafting the standards, which constitute a compromise between older federal standards and those proposed by California, which 14 other states signed onto. General Motors issued a statement saying in part: “Greater consistency and certainty among a variety of regulations will help a new GM execute its current product plan centered on new technologies and more highly fuel efficient and quality cars and trucks.”
 
Automakers including GM, Ford, Chrysler, have said they cannot meet the new regulations without selling electric cars, and are rushing forward with plans for electric cars and plug-in hybrids.
 
Some analysts, however, are still suspicious of the automakers’ involvement in the rulemaking. Dan Becker, Director of the Safe Climate Campaign at the Center for Auto Safety, says, “The devil is in the details. Detroit’s lobbyists have done their best to riddle this decision with credits and other loopholes. We urge the Administration to close these loopholes or implement an automatic backstop to ensure that the president’s promise of 35.5 mpg average vehicles in 2016 will be kept.”
 
In a recent survey by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, more than 80 percent of Americans said fuel economy was the most important factor in choosing a new car. And used car buyers ranked it second behind price. (Read: "Survey: Car buyers look to buy American, sound off on concerns.")
 
At Consumer Reports, we place a high value on fuel economy and conduct our own independent, real-world fuel economy tests. Check out our fuel economy hub here.
 
We’ll keep you up to date on how the latest crop of fuel-efficient—and, when available, even electric cars—perform. 

—Eric Evarts

Learn about driving green in the Consumer Reports special fuel economy section.