GM seemed to be rebranding and selling reimagined vehicles from their European division, Opel. While Opel-inspired Saturns were not necessarily subpar, it felt like GM misjudged the branding placement.
The 2008-2010 Saturn Vue was a remarkably reliable car—I should know, I owned one. Following Saturn’s demise, Buick essentially became a conduit for GM to import reengineered Opel and Vauxhall models, with slight modifications by U.S. engineers, for the American market.
It appeared that GM believed the Saturn Vue still held potential. The company was determined to make things work with this car. Thus, in 2009, GM teased the launch of a new hybrid vehicle.
Take a look at the image—it was clearly a previous year’s Saturn Vue, with fancy wheels and a distinctive grille. However, the response from the online community, GM internally, and GM dealers was so negative that the vehicle was axed shortly after the teaser’s release. Check out this informative forum thread from GMInsideNews documenting reactions to the Buick Vue.
GMInsideNews
Subsequently, GM shelved the idea and instead, revamped the Vue with a new powertrain, redesigned grille, shifted production to Mexico, and exclusively sold it as the Chevy Captiva Sport to fleets from 2012 until around 2015. GM’s rationale was that rental companies sought a compact SUV, and there was insufficient supply of Equinoxes for fleets, without wanting to diminish the resale value of private Equinox models.
At that time, GM expressed doubt on the success of the subcompact Trax in the U.S. and Canada, leaving a notable gap in the company’s SUV lineup. The Captiva catered adequately to fleet needs during that period and was considered a decent offering.
Returning to the abandoned Buick concept, I recently tweeted about it, unearthing this forgotten tale from the depths.
Many individuals in the automotive realm seemed unaware of this particular car, and insights shared within a Twitter discussion spurred me on a research quest.
Initially, I speculated that the “Buick Vue” was merely a marketing ploy to offload surplus Saturn Vue Green Line components. The Green Line hybrids were among the mildest iterations of hybrid technology, lacking significant appeal. Presently, the Green Line package detracts from the car’s value on the used market compared to a standard gasoline model.
The Green Line essentially featured a larger alternator coupled with a small electric motor driven by an accessory belt, functioning as both a starter and providing electric assistance at specific speeds, particularly at low speeds. Its performance was akin to that of its non-hybrid counterpart.
The Vue Green Line’s fuel efficiency increased from 22 mpg to 26 mpg in mixed driving, at least on paper. In the grand scheme of things, those figures may not seem too terrible, but the performance and efficiency of the Green Line fell short compared to competitors like the Ford Escape Hybrid.
The Vue Green Line was exclusively front-wheel drive, unlike rival Ford and Toyota SUV hybrids that offered AWD options. In reality, the GM mild hybrid models often struggled to achieve the promised fuel economy figures. CNET only managed an average of 22.8MPG during their test of the car back in 2008.
However, it becomes more intriguing as I discovered that the redesign for the “Buick Vue” was more substantial than anticipated.
As per a GM press release from 2009 found on Autoblog:
“The Buick plug-in hybrid is anticipated to be the initial commercially available plug-in hybrid SUV crafted by a major automaker.
The Buick plug-in hybrid has the potential to achieve double the fuel efficiency of similarly-sized SUVs on short journeys. This remarkable advancement is made possible by merging a modified version of GM’s proven 2-Mode Hybrid system with cutting-edge lithium-ion battery units and charging technology developed for GM’s Voltec system, set to premiere in the Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle in late 2010.”
Oh, really? A plug-in hybrid vehicle in 2010? Despite the limited range, this would have outpaced many automakers by several years. The first mainstream PHEV SUV available in the U.S. was the subcompact Kia Niro, launched in 2016. While there was an earlier Porsche Cayenne plug-in, it wasn’t a widely accessible vehicle.
The emphasis on this system in the press release was much more advanced compared to the simple start-stop mechanism in the Vue Green Line. This new system would utilize components from the recently introduced Chevy Volt and apply GM’s two-mode hybrid technology seen in the Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs from the mid-2000s.
Within this setup, the vehicle would alternate between:
- First mode; a sizeable electric motor propels the vehicle at lower speeds, during light-demand driving like speeds under 35 mph.
- Second mode; a sophisticated series of computations enables the vehicle to vary power sources between the electric motor(s), gasoline engine, and the four-speed automatic transmission they are paired with.
It may seem complex, but here’s a site that delves deeper into the technology. The outcomes on models like the Tahoe, Yukon, Silverado, and Sierra showcased a notable enhancement in fuel efficiency without a significant loss in towing capacity or performance. A group of journalists even got to experience driving some prototypes of the Buick Vue two-mode hybrid.
Nevertheless, the backlash was overwhelming, leading to the cancellation of the car mere days after its announcement. Perhaps people assumed it was another typical “Old GM” rebranding? Can we blame them? Until GM began creating genuinely worthwhile vehicles in the early 2010s, “Old GM” was the only reference point we had.
We reached out to Buick’s PR contacts for more information on this project and its demise, but had not received a response at the time of publishing this post.
Ultimately, the two-mode pickups and SUVs turned out to be a failure, with GM selling fewer than 40,000 hybrid trucks or SUVs from 2009 to 2013. The introduction of the Two-Mode system, while offering a tangible advantage in improved economy, came at an inopportune time, coinciding with the peak of the 2008 recession. Particularly, the SUV variants were approximately $15,000 pricier than their standard model counterparts, resulting in lackluster sales. The technology effectively disappeared with the cancellation of the Buick Vue and was never utilized in any subsequent vehicles.
On one hand, I reproach myself for unfairly judging GM, assuming it would deliver the same vehicle as before with just a Buick badge and no enhancements. I should have conducted more research and delved beyond the initial teaser image.
Realized that the Buick Vue was a distinct (and likely superior) vehicle.
On the other hand, GM ought to have been more knowledgeable than to blatantly rebrand a car in that manner. In the post-2008 era, their utilization of “badge engineering” was speculated as one of the causes for their descent into bankruptcy. Why not allocate the funds and integrate that technology into a fresh vehicle?
During the period of GM’s acceleration towards both electrification and SUVs, the termination of a hybrid seems uncomfortably myopic. Evidently, there were additional reasons leading to the premature demise other than “criticism online,” but it appeared quite evident that there was no demand for this car when it was showcased to the public. If the Buick Vue had been introduced, perhaps it would have excelled, and currently, we would perceive Buick as an eco-conscious brand at the forefront of efficiency. However, I am skeptical.
Kevin Williams is a writer at Car Bibles, an upcoming companion site to The Drive concentrating on pragmatic guidance and DIY recommendations to enhance your vehicle’s functionality. Anticipate the revamped Car Bibles launching early in 2021. Meanwhile, check us out on Twitter, IG, and Facebook.
Correction: Thursday, January 28, 2021, 5:00 p.m. ET: We initially stated that the 2016 Kia Niro was the first U.S. PHEV, which was inaccurate, we intended to express that it was the first widespread PHEV SUV! Apologies for the mistake.
