General Motors announced today that it has canceled plans for a Buick plug-in hybrid crossover.
General Motors announced last week that it plans to produce the world’s first plug-in hybrid SUV, in the form of a new yet-to-be-named Buick crossover. The vehicle will be a mash-up of the Chevy Volt, GM's full-size SUV "two-mode" hybrids, and the Buick brand.
Auto industry publications are reporting that an upcoming Buick Crossover due out in 2011 will be the first application of GM’s two-mode plug-in hybrid system—technology that was originally intended for the Saturn Vue. “Those reports are pure speculation,” GM spokesperson, Dayna Hart, told Hybridcars.com.
Get ready for a wave of hybrid press releases coming from Detroit’s North American International Auto Show, running from January 13-27 January. The first two announcements to hit the wire are about “two-mode” hybrid SUVs from General Motors and BMW. GM will unveil the 2009 Saturn Vue Green Line and BMW will show the X6 ActiveHybrid Concept. Both vehicles will be available in the United States in late 2008.
