DETROIT – General Motors Corp. is introducing 19 new or significantly redesigned engines and transmissions in its 2007-model year vehicles, including a new hybrid system and a fuel-saving V-6, according to the Associated Press. GM will offer 14 models, about 400,000 total vehicles, that can run on E-85 in the 2007-model year, compared with nine models in 2006. New ethanol-capable vehicles are the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vans, the Chevrolet Uplander minivan, and two more models that haven’t yet been announced. GM already has nearly 2 million ethanol-capable vehicles on the road. The 2007 Chevrolet Impala will have GM’s first V-6 engine with a system that saves fuel by automatically operating on fewer cylinders when the vehicle isn’t carrying a heavy load. Previously the system was only available with V-8 engines. An Impala with the new 3.9L V-6 will get an estimated 20 miles per gallon in the city and 29 miles per gallon on the highway, improvements of more than 5 percent over the current model, according to the report. GM’s 2007 Saturn Vue Green Line, due out this summer, will have a new gas-electric hybrid system that will use up to 20 percent less fuel than a traditional Saturn Vue. The Green Line’s hybrid system adds around $2,000 to the cost of a Saturn Vue, compared with a premium of $3,500 or more for other hybrids. GM is developing a more advanced hybrid system in a partnership with DaimlerChrysler AG and BMW AG. The hybrid system from that partnership is scheduled to debut on the 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe later this year. GM also is expanding the number of vehicles with six-speed automatic transmissions. The technology is being added to the Saturn Aura sedan, Saturn Outlook SUV, Pontiac G6, and Cadillac STS, and SRX.
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