General Motors Corp.'s troubles were legion during the recession, so the revamped General Motors Co. is trying harder for 2010.
For instance, safety features continue to be added as standard -- not optional -- equipment on many new vehicles. Both Chevrolet and GMC have curtain air bags, which provide head protection in side crashes, as standard equipment on all their Colorado and Canyon, respectively, pickups for 2010.
Car shoppers will find that engines in many new vehicles are more fuel efficient than ever this model year. As an example, the 2010 Buick LaCrosse will offer a fuel-thrifty four-cylinder engine. The midsize LaCrosse sedan never offered a four-banger before.
Alas, there's also a somber side to the 2010 model year. The number of vehicle nameplates being discontinued from production totals more than 15 and is the highest one-year dropoff in decades.
Among the names disappearing with the new model year are the Pontiac Solstice, along with the rest of the Pontiac line.
Here are details of the 2010 model year:
Buick
The Buick LaCrosse sedan is restyled and during the model year will add a new, more fuel-efficient base engine that's a 2.4-liter, direct-injection, Ecotec powerplant generating 182 horsepower.
Officials say the four-cylinder engine mated to a six-speed automatic transmission will boost the LaCrosse's fuel mileage rating to 20 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the highway, one of the best for the segment. The move marks the first time the LaCrosse has a four-banger under the hood. Other LaCrosse engines are V-6s.
Buick also updates all Lucerne sedan models with fog lamps and new rocker panels.
Cadillac
The nation's largest automaker, General Motors, decided to shed some of its car brands as it emerged from bankruptcy in July, but it GM held tight to its luxury brand, Cadillac.
Cadillac adds a station wagon to its entry model, the CTS . Called the CTS Sport Wagon, it has already been selling in Europe.
In the United States, it's offered with a choice of 3-liter, direct injection V-6 capable of delivering 270 horsepower or 3.6-liter, direct injection V-6 generating 304 horsepower.
A power liftgate is standard, the interior is like that of the CTS sedans, and buyers of the Sport Wagon choose from among three suspension settings.
The Sport Wagon also is available with all-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive. Starting price is $40,655.
Cadillac's SRX crossover SUV is the other big news at the start of the 2010 model year.
The midsize SRX is redone and rides on a new, improved chassis. Styling is updated, and buyers choose from two, relatively small displacement engines -- for Cadillac.
The 2.8-liter, turbocharged V-6 capable of producing 300 horses will arrive around the middle of the model year.
In the meantime, the SRX is being sold with the standard, 265-horsepower, 3-liter, direct injection V-6. Both engines are mated to a six-speed automatic transmission.
The five-passenger SRX has a starting price of $34,155.
Elsewhere at Cadillac, the Escalade large SUV offers improved fuel mileage from its 6.2-liter V-8, thanks to the addition of Active Fuel Management technology.
The software automatically turns off some engine cylinders when they're not needed, thus saving on gasoline.
The Escalade's gasoline-electric hybrid models for the new year will get a new, 3.08 axle ratio that improves their fuel economy.
Chevrolet
Chevrolet's big looker for 2010 is already out.
The revived, rear-wheel-drive Camaro coupe debuted in summer and boasts both V-6 and V-8 engines, low-slung styling and surprisingly decent gasoline mileage.
Indeed, the Camaro's federal government highway mileage rating is 29 mpg when the car is fitted with the base, 3.6-liter V-6 that generates a healthy 304 horsepower.
The uplevel engine is a 426-horsepower, 6.2-liter V-8, and both manual and automatic transmissions are available.
The 2010 four-seat Camaro, the first new Camaro in seven years, has a starting price of just over $23,000.
Chevy revised its Equinox crossover SUV for 2010, giving it distinctive styling that borrows from the its Malibu and Traverse. Inside, there are new standard and optional features, including a 40-gigabyte hard drive to store music.
And there are two new Equinox engines: The 182-horsepower, 2.4-liter, direct fuel-injection, Ecotec four cylinder that's also being put in the Buick LaCrosse and a new 3-liter, direct injection V-6. The only transmissions are six-speed automatics.
Best of all, the Equinox with four-cylinder engine becomes the base model with a lower starting price -- $23,185 -- than the lowest-priced Equinox of the 2009 model year, which started at more than $25,000. Last year's Equinoxes had V-6s only.
The four cylinder also improves the Equinox gas mileage ratings -- to a high of 22 mpg in city driving and 32 mpg on the highway for two-wheel drive models.
Chevy's midsize pickup, the Colorado, will be available with a V-8 for the first time. The Colorado's 5.3-liter V-8 produces 300 horsepower, which far surpasses the 185 horses of its four-cylinder engine and the 242 horses of its five-cylinder engine.
This V-8 is available only on the Colorado's crew cab models. But all Colorados add head curtain air bags as standard equipment this year.
The 5.3-liter V-8 already is offered in the Silverado full-size pickup, and for 2010, a fuel saver mode and 3.08 axle ratio are standard, too, as Chevy makes engine adjustments to boost fuel economy.
Also this year at Chevrolet, side air bags become standard on all Corvettes, and all Corvettes with manual transmission get standard launch control.
The 1.6-liter, Ecotec, four-cylinder engine remains in the Aveo lineup, but horsepower is bumped to 108 from 106. At least the starting price hasn't changed from the 2009 model. It's still $12,685, including destination charge.
The 6-liter, Vortec V-8 in the Chevy Suburbans adds variable valve timing, which improves responsiveness and efficiency.
The midsize Chevy Trailblazer SUV is discontinued.
A final note: The Volt plug-in gas-electric hybrid car, frequently in the news, is more than a year away from showrooms.
GMC
GMC dropped its midsize, V-6-powered Envoy SUV, which had a starting price of more than $31,000, and adds the Terrain SUV, a sibling of Chevrolet's newly revamped Equinox.
The good news: The five-passenger, 2010 Terrain can be had with a four-cylinder engine that helps set base pricing, including destination charge, at a more affordable $24,995.
The Terrain's 2.4-liter, direct injection Ecotec four cylinder develops 182 horsepower and enables this SUV to earn noteworthy 22 mpg city, 32 mpg highway fuel economy ratings.
These numbers put the Terrain in the same mileage ratings range as the Ford Escape and Toyota RAV4.
For buyers who want more power, the Terrain also has a 3-liter, double overhead cam V-6 producing 264 horsepower.
In other news, GMC's Sierra full-size pickups get updates to improve fuel economy. For example, a 3.08 axle ratio and fuel saver mode are standard on 2010 Sierra 1500s that have the 5.3-liter V-8.
In the Canyon midsize pickup, curtain air bags for head protection become standard equipment on all models, and the Acadia SUV has new, 20-inch chrome wheels available.
Hummer
In June, the bankrupt General Motors Corp. announced it expected to consummate the sale of its Hummer brand to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co., Ltd. of China by late this year.
GM added that the Hummer H3 and H3T, at the least, were expected to continue production in the 2010 model year, with the only substantive change being that the 5.3-liter, gasoline V-8 becomes FlexFuel capable.
Pontiac
General Motors Co. emerged from bankruptcy protection in July and announced it is phasing out the Pontiac brand. A 2010 Pontiac Vibe, however, was already under production and debuted with a starting price of $16,820.
The 2010 Vibe will be the only new model at dealerships. There is, however, a grassroots effort to resuscitate the struggling Pontiac brand.
The five-passenger Vibe Sister, a sister vehicle to the Toyota Matrix, is powered by a 158-horsepower, four-cylinder engine.
Saturn
While in bankruptcy protection, GM said it is selling its Saturn brand to Penske Automotive Group, owned by former racecar driver Roger Penske. The deal is not expected to be finalized until this fall.
Future Saturn products are still being worked out, but there's word that Penske is talking with French automaker Renault and its Japanese affiliate, Nissan, to provide cars for Saturn dealerships. Details are forthcoming. Renault hasn't had a U.S. sales outlet for its cars since the 1980s.
The Penske Automotive Group is the No. 2 auto retailer in the United States.
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