Bob Lutz understands the value of blogging over at GM’s FastLane blog in order to address advancements, issues or hickups that the automaker is facing. GM’s owned Saturn on Monday launched their own blog along with a little social networking feature for Saturn enthusiasts called ImSaturn.com.

Jill Lajdaziak, Saturn’s general manager, said that she plans to post on the blog periodically along with other Saturn execs. “You’ll find news about Saturn and see photos and videos you haven’t seen anywhere else.”

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Saturn executives told dealers that GM expects much of its growth over the next five years to come from the Saturn brand. Saturn has slightly increased its sales goal for 2008, much of which will come from new products like the Aura Sedan, Outlook crossover and the new Saturn Astra.

Saturn has had a 12.6 percent increase in sales from 2006 to 2007 leading to a retailer profitability growth of 24 percent.

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GM supposedly left drawings of what could be a Mini Cooper fighter in its design studio room where journalists got to preview the work being done on the upcoming production Chevrolet Volt. According to the MotorTrend guys, who have sketches displayed on their site, the drawings showed ’a two-box, three-door hatchback design with a conventional, vertical B-pillar.’

MotorTrend says that if GM moves forth with the car it will not be Chevrolet since to make profit for GM, it would have to sell in the $20k+ range. On report suggests that it could be sold under Pontiac, Buick, Saturn, or Saab. MotorTrend says its leaning more towards the Saab side since it has more room to sell a car in the $20,000 to $25,000 range.

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A slew of new vehicles suggests that diesels are coming back in a big way, but consumers may not be ready to embrace them just yet.

More than 10 diesel vehicles debuted at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit this year – a staggering number when compared to previous shows, where maybe one or two, if any, were unveiled with little fanfare. As manufacturers ramp up efforts to start selling new diesel vehicles this fall, it seems as though diesel is becoming the new darling of alternative fuels.

Click through for the list of the Top 10 New Diesel Vehicles.

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You would be surprised at the amount of information you can get out of the floor representatives at the auto shows if you just spend a little time talking to them and complimenting them on a job well done. At the Washington Auto Show AutoblogGreen’s Lascelles Linton asked a GM rep which cars GM plans to turn hybrids into next.

Linton was told that GM is currently working on a hybrid variant for the Saturn Outlook, GMC Acadia and the GMC Sierra. Heck, we wouldn’t be surprised if GM decided to take the new Buick Enclave hybrid since it’s built on the same Lambda platform.

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Regardless of sticker price, cars that are rare, performance-minded, and fun to drive have the highest resale values industry-wide.

The 10 cars with the highest resale value share at least one thing in common, whether they cost $16,000 or $160,000: Most of them skew more toward fun than practicality.

The majority of vehicles on our previous ranking of the Top 10 Luxury Cars With the Highest Resale Value are the priciest, fastest, and least practical around. Opening up our new list to all cars — not just luxury vehicles — keeps a few pricey rides in play, but not as many as you might think.

Click through for the list of the Top 10 Vehicles with the Best Resale Value.

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According to vice chairman Bob Lutz, bringing over the Opel Astra to the U.S. and rebadging it as a Saturn has saved GM about $900 million in development cost.

“Its adaptation to American requirements cost less than $100 million,” Lutz said at the car’s North American press introduction here. “In the future,” Lutz said, “Opel and Saturn will share about 90 percent of their model portfolios.”

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Sport utility vehicles are getting sportier than ever, while some of the largest among them are going hybrid to save fuel and save face.

Swelling sales of sport utility vehicles show no sign of abating and their continued popularity seems to clash with widespread concerns over fuel prices and the environment. But manufacturers have responded to the changing times with new sportier and “greener” SUVs to ensure their longevity.

Click through for the list of the Top 19 Hottest SUVs of 2008.

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The Saturn Astra U.S. launch is still 2 months away but GM showed the Astra at this year’s SEMA Show in Las Vegas. Of course due to SEMA standards the car was tuned out. The Saturn Astra Tuner Concept was tuned with a list of accessories from Saturn’s European counterpart Opel.

Saturn added new front and rear extensions, a new grille surround finish, tinted headlamps and taillamps, a rear center exhaust, high-performance Recaro seats, a new interior trim, new sill plates and a new parking brake handle. GM accessories used on the Saturn Astra Tuner Concept included OPC 19-inch wheels, OPC rockers, OPC rear spoiler and a Blaupunkt sound system.

The Saturn Astra Tuner Concept is powered by a 1.8 liter Ecotec DOHC 4-cylinder engine that produces 160 horsepower. Other performance features included an exhaust header, cold air-intake and modified throttle body.

Click through live images and the press release.

Saturn Astra Tuner Concept Gallery:

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Saturn today announced the pricing for the 2008 Saturn Vue Green Line hybrid SUV. Said to be the most affordable SUV, the Saturn Vue Green Line starts at $24,795.

Saturn says that the new 2008 Saturn Vue Green Line gets a fuel economy rating of 25/32 (city/highway). They hybrid SUV is said to have a 585 mile range on one tank. The car is powered by a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine that produces 172 horsepower.

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This fall, Saturn is finally bringing its award-winning European hatchback to the United States with a range of standard equipment, safety features and great fuel economy. New reports from Germany say that GM’s Opel in Europe has already started work on a hybrid Saturn Astra along with a compact Saab.

“We are working on a hybrid version of the next Astra,” a General Motors development engineer told Automobilwoche.

GM is building capability for the E-Flex plug-in electric vehicle into the Delta architecture. That architecture will be used on the next-generation Astra and the entry-level compact Saab.

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Seems like every auto maker is offering hybrid variants to their lineups these days. Volkswagen just announced today that it is looking into offering hybrid options in all its models. That’s good news for you fuel-efficiency freaks and environment lovers right? 

Sadly enough most auto makers are putting out hybrid trucks, SUVs and luxury sedans that aren’t much more fuel efficient than counterparts. Since the average gas mileage of hybrid models available in the U.S. is 33 miles per gallon (combined city and highway), Forbes decided to compile a list of Top 10 hybrids that get less than 33 miles per gallon. Toyota, who is well known for offering amazing hybrids, dominated the list with 4 cars. In fact, all of Lexus’ hybrids appear on the list.

Click through for the list of the Top 10 Least Fuel-Efficient Hybrids.

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Well it seems like the Chevrolet Volt won’t be GM’s first plug-in hybrid out on the market after all. According to Jill Lajdziak, brand general manager, the first GM plug-in hybrid will be a Saturn Vue SUV that can go 10 miles on electricity alone.

“In 2009-ish,” Lajdziak told The Detroit Free Press.

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