GM Rolls Out Red Tag Sale, Chevy Deals

GM’s Red Tag Sale has become a bit of a holiday tradition, usually starting in December. However, the abysmal economy has forced the company to roll out the sale a month early this year. Dealers are instructed to clearly place the price consumers will pay after incentives and other fees have been calculated and deducted on a big, red tag on each vehicle. (The tag’s price excludes factory-to-dealer incentives, as well as other stackable incentives like recent grad cash back, auto show bonus cash, and tax, title and registration fees.)

First up in our list of such incentives is Chevrolet. A variety of incentives (or, to be technical, the Red Tag Sale price) are available on 2008 and 2009 models. A full list is available on GM’s Red Tag Sale page. Even new models like the Chevy Traverse crossover are severely discounted. A selection of available Red Tag pricing deals are listed below, though they may vary depending on what region of the country you’re in: 

Bumpy Future for GM's Full-Size SUVs

Despite diminishing sales and favorability in the public’s eyes, General Motors was still committed to developing a future platform, or underpinning, for its full-size SUVs at a cost of nearly a billion dollars. But according to The New York Times, GM has now abandoned those efforts.

Code-named CXX, the platform would have underpinned vehicles like the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Tahoe, Avalanche and Suburban, and GMC Yukon. CXX would have been lighter and more fuel efficient than the existing platform, named GMT900. The GMT900s, which are on sale now, were introduced in 2006.

Recall alert: 2006-2008 GM SUVs, Cars, Trucks

GM is recalling 850,000 vehicles because of problems with the windshield wiper fluid system that could lead to a fire. The recall involves SUVs that are equipped with a heated washer fluid system, which could short circuit and cause an electrical malfunction that could lead to a fire.

GM said the recall includes the 2008 Buick Enclave, 2006-2008 Buick Lucerne, 2006-2008 Cadillac DTS, 2007-2008 Cadillac Escalade, 2007-2008 Cadillac Escalade ESV, 2007-2008 Cadillac Escalade EXT, 2007-2008 Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado, Tahoe and Suburban, 2007-2008 GMC Acadia, Sierra, Yukon and Yukon XL, 2006-2008 Hummer H2 and 2007-2008 Saturn Outlook.

Dealers will fix the problem free of charge, GM said. If you own one of these vehicles, contact your local dealer.

Chevrolet's Employee Discounts Revealed

Yesterday, we hoped to figure out just how much GM’s Employee Pricing Sale could save customers, and short of invading dealerships or interrogating GM employees (“Hey, how much is your discount? Answer us!”), we’ve found the answers — on GM’s site.

Chevrolet unsurprisingly has concentrated most of its employee savings on its trucks and SUVs. At the employee-discounted price plus incentives, the Silverado is available for $19,948, which is $8,000 below MSRP. The Avalanche (almost $9,000 less than MSRP) and Suburban (more than $9,000 less than MSRP) are also available with hefty bargains.

If you’re a sports car enthusiast, you’re not left out. The Corvette is included in the sale, and we found more than $6,000 in Cash back on the standard ‘Vette. We’re devoting an entirely separate post to the ridiculous price of a 2008 Corvette Z06.

A substantial list of Chevy’s employee-priced vehicles is below, with expected cost after discounts and incentives. Check Chevrolet’s site for a full list of deals or GM’s site for differing trim levels, other models and to double-check which deals apply in your area.

GM Adds 1 MPG to 2009 Trucks and SUVS

For the 2009 model year, the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups and the Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs will add a new model called the XFE that adds an extra mpg to both city and highway mileage. The new models only come with two-wheel drive, but towing and other capabilities remain unchanged despite the improved mileage.

While 1 mpg doesn’t seem like a lot, moving the gauge from 14/20 mpg to 15/21 mpg equals a 5% to 7% improvement.

While we’d love to discuss these changes in-depth here on KickingTires, we’d much rather point everyone to PickupTrucks.com and let the experts there explain the changes in detail.

General Motors Debuts 'XFE' Pickups With Improved Fuel Economy (PickupTrucks.com)

The State of the 'Other Hybrids'

The media and car shoppers are going into hybrid hysteria. We reported last week that if you wanted a new Toyota Prius or Honda Civic Hybrid, you’d wait months to get your hands on one. Those are possibly the two most visible hybrids on the market. But what of the other hybrids out there? What others? Well, GM and Ford also sell hybrids, but just because you might not know much about them doesn’t mean they’re sitting around on lots collecting dust.

There are three very alluring hybrid SUVs on the market: The 2008 Saturn Vue Green Line, which for 2009 will just be called the Vue Hybrid; the 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid, soon to be replaced by an even more efficient 2009 version; and the 2008 Chevy Tahoe/GMC Yukon hybrid.

The first two are compact SUVs that return mpg numbers that are better than most standard four-cylinder midsize sedans. The 2008 Escape FWD gets 34/30 mpg city/highway and the 2008 Vue — only available in FWD — gets 25/32 mpg city/highway. You pay for the hybrid with the Ford; it starts at $27,445 versus $21,685 for its four-cylinder gasoline counterpart. The hybrid Vue starts less at $25,645 versus $21,525 for the four-cylinder base model.

However, neither model is exactly easy to find.

GM's Big Hybrid SUVs Slow to Take Off

In today's all-we-can-talk
-about-is-the-price-of-gas culture, it's somewhat surprising that GM's new hybrid SUVs aren't selling in large numbers. Well, maybe it's not that surprising. To get the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid's 50% better city fuel economy, buyers have to part with $53,000, which is about $4,000 more than a similarly equipped non-hybrid version.

Most shoppers point to that price tag — and the fact that gas savings aren't that high, going from 13/14 mpg in the city to 20/21 mpg in the city (4WD/2WD). That might be 50% better, but highway mileage remains the same at 20/22 mpg (4WD/2WD). GM also makes a hybrid version of the GMC Yukon. 

According to The New York Times, GM has sold about 1,100 of both SUVs since they went on sale in January. That's well short of the pace predicted by the estimated 12,000 per year sales GM had predicted.

We're a tad surprised at the slow sales, both because the Tahoe overall is an above-average full-size SUV and because the hybrid is better for the environment and can still tow a substantial amount of weight — 6,200 pounds.

What Would Make the Perfect Winter Police Car?

Chicago’s new police superintendent is discussing converting the city’s fleet of Ford Crown Victoria police cars to four-wheel-drive Chevy Tahoes. The thinking is that the Tahoes would be better able to handle winter weather than the rear-wheel-drive Crown Vics.

Chicago’s budget probably can’t afford a new fleet of Tahoes, but after too many months of winter weather this past season, we here at the Cars.com offices wonder if it’s not such a bad idea to get rid of the ancient RWD Crown Vics. The story linked below says the Crown Vics and Tahoe get the same mileage, about 11 mpg. That must be for special models equipped for police use, though, because city mileage for the Crown Vic is 17 mpg and the Tahoe is 14 mpg. Maybe Chicago can get some Tahoe Hybrids to keep its green-focused mayor happy.

What would your choice for a winter police car be? And what the heck do they use in Alaska?

Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis pushes upgrading cops' equipment (Chicago Tribune)

GM Scores Among Award Finalists

Perhaps marking GM’s reemergence from the automobile wilderness, the domestic car giant makes four of the six finalists for the 2008 North American Car and Truck of the Year award. Even better, the automaker now finds itself in a position to score wins in both Car and Truck of the Year a feat no other company has achieved two years in a row, a feat no other company has achieved. 

Truck of the Year finalists include GM’s Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid SUV and Buick Enclave crossover SUV, with Mazda’s CX-9 crossover SUV filling the third spot. As for Car of the Year, the Honda Accord will compete with GM’s Cadillac CTS sport sedan and the highly praised Chevrolet Malibu midsize sedan.

Now if the world’s largest auto manufacturer could only transfer this success to sales. While its vehicles continue to improve, the perception of domestic cars in terms of quality and design still lags behind Japanese and European makes. Earning awards is nice, but earning back car shoppers is obviously GM’s more pressing goal.

Vote is in: GM Rules (Detroit Free Press)

Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon Hybrids Priced Above $50,000

We were impressed when we got to test drive the upcoming 2008 Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon Hybrids. Today, GM announced starting prices for these advanced, less-gas thirsty full-size SUVS and going green is going to be costly. The Tahoe two-wheel drive will start at $50,490, while the two-wheel drive Yukon will start at $50,945.

A Tahoe LTZ starts at $36,145 with a similarly well-equipped model hitting $45,680. If the equipment levels match, a $5,000 premium still sounds costly to us.

Four-wheel drive models will cost $53,295 and $53,755 for the Tahoe and Yukon respectively and all prices include a $900 destination charge. Tell us what you think: Is this too much to go green and still roll in a full-size SUV?

Related
More from the LA Auto Show
More Chevy News
More GMC News