General Motors has reportedly cancelled most of its hybrid lineup.  The automaker will produce hybrid versions of its largest trucks and SUVs in the 2010 model year, but is left with no hybrid sedans or midsize SUVs. 

Motor Authority reports, "While most automakers are scrambling to add hybrids and other alternatively-fueled models to their lineups, General Motors is getting rid of a couple of struggling hybrids currently residing in its range of cars - the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid and the Saturn Vue Hybrid." 

According to USA Today, the Saturn Aura Hybrid has been cancelled as well.   The automaker cited poor sales.  "Chevy managed to sell 64,363 Malibus from the start of the year through May, but only 2,142 of the hybrid version. Likewise, Saturn dealers unloaded 8,944 Auras, but only 134 of them were hybrids."

The move, however, does not mean that GM is giving up on green car technology.  HybridCars.com notes, "GM officials said cutting back on less successful fuel-efficient systems will allow the company to focus on new technologies-including the plug-in series system hybrid underlying the Chevy Volt-which will require a significant investment." 

The cancelled vehicles barely qualified as hybrids.  Reuters explains, "The so-called ‘mild hybrid' system in the 2009 Malibu Hybrid adds extra cost (about $4,000), without doing much for the fuel economy."  The system turned the car's engine off at stoplights, and restarted it when the gas pedal was depressed - a far cry from other manufacturers' hybrids, which drive under electric power to a certain speed before starting a gasoline engine.  Reuters notes, "A four-cylinder model that runs on gas only is rated at 22 MPG for city driving and 33 MPG for highway driving, while the hybrid model gets only 26 MPG city and 34 MPG highway ratings."   

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