Car buyers here in the States are clamoring for fuel efficient transportation, but so far the Saturn Astra hasn't been on the top of buyers lists. The Astra is a smash hit in Europe and we liked it during its short stay in the Autoblog Garage, but it may just be too expensive compared to the competition with a starting price of $16,495. General Motors isn't keeping the price high to make a profit on the small volume import, either. GM vice chairman and quote master Bob Lutz told Automotive News that the Belgian-made Astra isn't profitable in the U.S. at all anymore due to the weak value of the Dollar vs. the Euro. The Astra has gone up in price by $500 since its introduction to reflect the broadening gap between the two currencies, and the price hike was implemented only to lessen the hit from the currency exchange. The Astra is not just a financial burden for the General – it isn't exactly a sales success, either. GM has sold only 7,914 so far this year, which is far below the projected pace of 25,000 annual units. Part of the problem is that few people actually know the Astra exists, and those who do may not want to pay the relatively high price of entry. If you've driven or own an Astra, let us know what you think of it in the comments.

The attention of the hybrid technology universe has been focused firmly on two vehicles: the Chevy Volt and the plug-in Prius. On the surface, these two vehicles are primed to be big-time competitors in the battle for mpg-conscious buyers. Not so, says the king of quote, Maximum Bob Lutz. According to Mr. Lutz, the two vehicles are very technologically different. Toyota also says that a plug-in Prius will be in production in 2009, a full year ahead of the Volt. Lutz hypothesizes that the Prius plug-ins will be available only to select fleets and not in large scale production, and the GM Vice Chairman says that the Volt will be available as part of a large test fleet in late 2009, as well.

We agree that the Volt and Prius are technologically different, but we're pretty sure the two vehicles will be competing for the same buyers. After all, Americans are calling for more fuel efficient vehicles and don't care if one's a plug-in parallel hybrid that runs on nickel-metal hydride batteries and the other is a series hybrid with lithium-ion batteries and a "range extender". They just care about whichever one can go further on a drop of fuel.