Saturn Drops 'Green Line' Name for Hybrids
Saturn was one of the first domestic automakers to add a hybrid to its lineup when the Vue Green Line debuted in the summer of 2006. You know, back when gas was less than $3 a gallon. Being Saturn, “the different kind of car company,” it enlisted a name for its line of hybrids, which includes the Vue and the Aura sedan: Green Line. Complete with a little badge, too.
Times have changed and car shoppers don’t have the time to decipher cute little badges as they frantically search for a hybrid to save them from high gas prices. So for 2009 models, Saturn has officially dumped the Green Line moniker.
According to Saturn spokesman Mike Morrissey, “It was simply a practical matter. As we expand our hybrid lineup, the names were getting a bit long. It’s hard to write a short sentence about the Saturn Vue Green Line 2-Mode Hybrid.”
Speaking for the rest of the editorial team at Cars.com, thank you, Mike.
As for Saturn’s performance lineup, known as Red Line, that name and cute little badge will remain intact for 2009 and the foreseeable future.
Oh, and if you’re waiting for the high-mileage Saturn Vue 2-Mode Hybrid, it will go on sale in early 2009. Until then, the current Vue Hybrid, with its mild hybrid system that returns 25/32 mpg city/highway, is still on sale, mostly lost in the hybrid-hysteria media coverage. That’s better gas mileage than a four-cylinder Toyota Camry or Honda Accord sedan, but slightly behind Ford’s Escape Hybrid SUV.
