In a move that would have seemed implausable a decade ago, General Motors have cancelled a $2 billion investment program to update their range of full-size SUVs, the staple breadwinners of the 90s. Pulling the plug on Project CXX, which was set to underpin future versions of the Escalade, Yukon and Suburban, was unanimously approved by executives, ending 15 years of vehicles that defined the brand.

“It would have been very difficult in today’s environment to spend a couple of billion dollars to do a replacement,” said Robert A. Lutz, G.M.’s vice chairman and head of product development. In a market faced with soaring fuel prices and consumer demand for more compact, more efficient cars; “reality had set in.” Continued

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Praise never hurts, especially when it comes from your peers. So General Motors has reason to feel good about the newest honors for its 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid and 2008 GMC Yukon Hybrid. The two gasoline-electric models have been named 2008’s Best Engineered vehicles by Automotive Engineering International.

The magazine, produced by the huge trade organization, the Society of Automotive Engineers, which is based in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, based the award on voting by both editors and readers.

“General Motors has significantly re-engineered its class-leading full-size sport utility vehicles - the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon - with the first application of groundbreaking hybrid technology,” Kevin Jost, Editorial Director of Automotive Engineering International, said.

Until recently an also-ran in the emerging hybrid market, GM has begun to make a big push with its so-called two-mode version of the fuel-saving technology. Like hybrids from the segment leader, Toyota, GM’s system can run on either gasoline or electric power, or a combination of both. But the two-mode technology has at least one critical advantage. Prior hybrid systems only operated effectively at relatively low, around-town speeds. The two-modes also yield fuel savings on the highway.

Both the 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid and 2008 GMC Yukon Hybrid are rated at 21 miles per gallon (mpg) for city driving and 22 mpg for highway driving for the two-wheel drive models, while four-wheel drive models achieve EPA ratings of 20 mpg in both city and highway test cycles.

The two-mode technology will roll out on a variety of other GM models, in the coming years, including a version of the Cadillac Escalade. The hybrid system was developed as part of a joint venture between GM and Chrysler, Daimler AG (maker of Mercedes-Benz) and BMW. Chrysler and the other makers are launching two-mode hybrid models, as well.

(source: Thecarconnection)

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Just a reality check for all those sites out there claiming to have pictures a true M X5. It’s not going to happen - it was never going to happen. The car currently being tested at the ‘Ring is simply a sport edition of the new X5 a la the 4.8is. It will come with the twin turbo V8 and put out 407 hp. This is the same engine currently in the X6-50.

(Source: BimmerFile)

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Geely’s Beijing Motor Show concept parade rolls on, and the latest preview from our counterparts at Autoblog Chinese focuses on the NL concept. As has been the case with many of these Beijing-bound concepts, details are scarce, and we can’t vouch for the accuracy of the renderings you see in the enclosed gallery, either. If they’re actually indicative of the vehicle that Geely will present, expect to see an SUV blending the general shape of the Ford Kuga with a front end that’s vaguely reminiscent of an Opel Antara/Saturn Vue Red Line. In this case, things seem to come together rather nicely. We’ll find out what the real deal is next week when the Beijing show kicks off.

(source: Autoblog)

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The market is becoming flooded with high-end luxury (and high-powered) sport-utilities from the likes of Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, but in many books the Range Rover is still tops. The next-generation model is anticipated to head into Bentley territory, but Land Rover’s flagship SUV could head up-market even before then.

A test mule of a hot-rodded Range Rover has been spotted undergoing tests, and reports suggest that the vehicle could be hiding a V12 engine underhood. While the vehicle spotted could be an early prototype for the current model’s replacement, the possibility remains that the new masters at Tata have already given the green light for a twelve-cylinder version of the existing truck. Either way, the big question is where Land Rover would get a V12. It’s doubtful that they’d develop one themselves. BMW designed the current Range Rover to accommodate its V12, but Land Rover stopped using BMW engines a few years ago in favor of Ford-sourced Jaguar units. Jaguar, meanwhile, doesn’t make V12s anymore, and even if Ford wanted to kick one in for them, the Blue Oval doesn’t have one lying around the parts bin, either. Unless they’ve been hiding one in the miniscule Nano, the company’s new owners at Tata don’t have one to offer. The closest relation could be Aston Martin, with which Land Rover used to share space under the Ford PAG umbrella, but that seems a bit of a stretch. With the rumormill churning this fast, who knows, maybe Pontiac will be thrown into the mix?

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Last year, Porsche built a series of race-ready Cayenne S Transsyberia SUVs for use in the rally event bearing the same name. Lessons were learned, and so for the 2008 running of the Transsyberia, Porsche is offering the teams who bought the trucks last year a conversion package that features a number of upgrades. These include a new sump guard, a beefier tire package, tweaked air suspension, a shorter final drive ratio (same as the new Cayenne GTS), plus updates to the transmission programming, dynamic chassis control and traction management systems. Driving from Moscow to Mongolia is no picnic, and these upgrades should make the already-robust Cayenne S Transsyberia even better-suited to handle the rough-and-tumble 4,400-mile course. You can check out the full specs after the jump, and see last year’s post on the truck’s unveiling for a peek at many of the other modifications that came as part of the standard package.

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Just like any good political campaign, Mercedes came to the New York Auto Show touting nothing much as a whole lot. Actually, the faux political rally might have been less than compelling with its old news, but the new M Class sporting 50-state legal BlueTec diesel power is exciting. Almost as exciting as the very original 1965 190 D Mercedes had borrowed to illustrate its long-running experience with Rudy’s coal dust motor. The senescent sedan will be helping MBZ recreate Bill Carroll’s cross-country diesel-fueled journey to celebrate the U.S.-wide availability of what it’s touting as the cleanest diesel ever. BlueTec allows the M-, GL- and R-class oil burners to earn ULEV and TierII/Bin 5 classification.

Mercedes says its new diesels are now as clean as gasoline powerplants, and once they drop BlueTec hybrids on us, emissions and economy will improve yet again. JD Power projects that fully 40 percent of vehicles will be diesel powered by 2017, and Mercedes wants to increase diesel sales beyond the current level of 22 percent. The newly tweaked M-Class should help move the powertrain off dealer lots. Sporting plenty of safety upgrades, new headlights, a Hannibal-Lechter inspired grille and some interior tweaks, the M-Class has returned from the gym freshly chiseled. It was not all utes and politely obscured minivans (*ahem* R-Class). Just before Mercedes wrapped the presser, they said, we’re paraphrasing here, “Oh yeah, we also brought the SL, w00t.”

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