Saturn General Manager Jill Lajdziak after unveiling the Astra (Photo Credit: GM)

I spent a good part of Wednesday afternoon talking to GM executives. We've got audio files that we'll be sharing with you as soon as we get some glitches smoothed out, but I wanted to give you a quick overview.

GM scheduled a group interview/conversation with the bloggers at the show and our colleague Bob Lutz, Vice Chairman of Global Product Development. If you follow GM's FastLane blog, you know that he's pretty outspoken — that was clear in our discussion, too. It was a fascinating meeting — Lutz addressed not only environmental concerns (even what he thought would happen to vehicles like the Hummer with GM's stated commitment to "reinventing the automobile"), but also the history of design at GM (and how it's come back into prominence), and even the perils of blogging with a PR team watching what you say!

I also met with Saturn's Director of Brand & Product Development Lisa Hutchinson. With the unveiling of the Astra, the Saturn folks were clearly in demand — I was originally supposed to meet with Saturn GM Jill Lajdziak, but the radio folks kept her for themselves. Lisa was clearly in demand, also, so we kept it short and sweet. Essentially,

• Saturn believes that small cars like the Astra will continue to grow in demand.
• The VUE Hybrid will be going through several manifestations, from the current hybrid, to GM's dual-mode hybrid, to a plug-in. No dates, however, for the last stage.
• Saturn believes that green is a good bet, and sees it as a major part of their "evolution."

The last interview I did, with GM's VP of Research & Development and Corporate Strategy Larry Burns, was a blogger's dream (even when it's a green blogger meeting with a high-level executive of a major auto company). I was impressed not only with Larry's passion for his company and its products, but also his command of that company's environmental impact, and its efforts to address them. When I brought up the Rainforest Action Network and JumpStartFord's assertion that GM is focused on green concept vehicles and dirty production vehicles, he answered very thoroughly and very candidly. It's a wonderful discussion, and I can't wait to bring it to you.

I've got to admit I came away from these meetings pretty impressed with GM's ideas about "greening" the automobile. Of course, we'll have to keep a close eye on them, as well as other car manufacturers — everyone's talking green now, but the proof will be in the actions they take. We should probably keep the Wal-Mart standard in mind — judge them by their actions. But we also shouldn't take the relatively easy step of writing GM off because it killed the EV1 and builds the Hummer. If they really get it, the potential for positive impact is tremendous — and we've got to encourage that. I hope you'll listen to the interviews once I get them up here… lots and lots of food for thought.

Crossposted at sustainablog 

Chevy VoltJust spent some time with my blogging compadres at a "walk-through"viewing of the Chevy Volt concept vehicle. As you can see, it's a beautiful car! That was part of the plan, we learned — "green vehicles" aren't always particularly sexy, so Chevy wanted to bring some of the emotional attachment of the Corvette and Camaro to a greener vehicle.

The Volt's been covered widely around the green blogosphere because it's a plug-in hybrid. That is, it has greater battery capacity than traditional hybrids, and can run in an electric-only mode for up to 40 miles. Since that covers the range most people drive in a day, there's potential for tremendous fuel savings (and lower emissions). Though, as some will certainly point out, the source of the electricity that goes into it (and this is the case with an plug-in electric vehicle or hybrid) can still undermine the "clean/green" potential…

Several members of the design team talked about the car with us. I tracked down lead interior designer Wade Bryant after his talk to find out a little more about the materials that go into the interior (they definitely go for an "eco" look and feel inside). Bryant admitted that the materials in the concept vehicle weren't necessarily chosen for their light environmental impact and/or re-use/recyclability potential, but that's "on the shelf" for the production model. He included materials such as bioplastics, and greener fabrics as part of the mix under consideration. He also claimed that most car interiors currently are very recyclable — I'd love to hear if any of you can speak to that…

There's no doubt that the Volt is a very sweet concept — at this point, it's just a concept, though. I'll be talking to GM VP of Reseach & Development and Strategic Planning Larry Burns this afternoon, and will be focused on productions plans for this vehicle… Stay tuned.

Cross-posted at Sustainablog.

The Saturn AstraAs part of our launch week celebration, the guys have sent me to (very cold) Chicago for the Auto Show. Getting acclimated, but a few upcoming events ought to be of interest to GO readers:

• Saturn is unveiling the Astra, it's "new European small car." With Chrysler planning to bring the SmartCar to the US next year, maybe (please maybe) we'll see some focus on small and fuel-efficient vehicles vs. gas-guzzling behemoths!
• GM is taking bloggers (and there are a number of us) on a "walk-through" of the Chevy Volt, their concept plug-in hybrid.

I'll also be talking to a couple of GM execs later today, and hope to have audio of the discussion for you.

GM is sponsoring my trip to the Auto Show — they've done the same for a whole slew of bloggers — we're well-represented! They've asked that we disclose that relationship, and we're happy to do it.

Got to run… that seems to be standard operating procedure at these things… back with more later!

There's no definitive answer to that question (yet), but the Detroit Free Press reports that Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm is putting the hard sell on California-based Tesla Motors (creator of the very cool electric vehicle, the Tesla Roadster) to locate a new manufacturing facility in the Wolverine State. Earlier reports had the $100 million, 300-employee factory going to Arizona, North Carolina or California, but Tesla realizes that Michigan, and Detroit in particular, has the talent pool it needs to move to the next level. The company has already moved to locate a technical center in the area:

Tesla's U.S. manufacturing plant and the [Detroit suburb] Rochester Hills engineering center would be focused chiefly on the company's next-generation electric vehicle, a sedan that Eberhard hopes will cost around $50,000 and sell about 10 times the volume of the roadster.

Tesla has raised about $60 million, including $27 million from PayPal Inc. founder Elon Musk and small investments from Google Inc. founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Initial employees at its San Carlos, Calif., headquarters were primarily engineers with backgrounds in electronics, but as the company moved toward mass production, [Tesla CEO Martin] Eberhard said experienced automotive engineers were needed. "And the fact is, those people are in Michigan," he said.

David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, called Tesla's decision to put a tech center in Rochester Hills "an affirmation of the fact that if you want to be major player on the automotive scene, you've got to have a presence here."

With GM's recent announcement of its new Volt concept car, as well as plans for a plug-in hybrid version of the Saturn Vue, Detroit could quickly become a hub of EV research, development and manufacturing. "Could" is the operative word there, of course: the Big 3 are still moving relatively sluggishly on new-generation, gas-sipping (or gas-free)automobiles. Tesla's presence may just get that engine revving a little harder… Thanks to GO Beta Tester Eric Benson for passing that along.

Detroit Free Press: "Granholm Going After Jobs"