Last summer Ichiro Suzuki was selected as the MVP of the baseball All-Star game and got the keys to one of the first Chevy Tahoe Two-Mode Hybrids. At the time, those SUVs were still more than six months away from production. This year, Chrysler is getting ready to launch their own full-size hybrid SUVs and they may be awarding one of the early production Aspen Hybrids to a women golfer at the Ginn Tribute LPGA tournament this weekend. If any of the 144 golfers, including Annika Sorenstarn, shoot a hole-in-one during the tournament they will get one of the first Aspens.

The Aspen and its twin Dodge Durango hybrid don't go on sale until this fall but they are set up very much like the corresponding GM hybrids. The same two-mode hybrid transmission is paired up with a large V8, in Chrysler's case the 5.7L HEMI. The HEMI is also equipped with cylinder deactivation allowing it to run on either four or eight cylinders. The nickel metal hydride battery pack is installed below the second row seat. While GM is offering their hybrids with either rear or all wheel drive, Chrysler is only planning to offer the Aspen/Durango with the latter configuration. The Chrysler press release is after the jump.

Hot on the heels of word that Holden Special Vehicles was looking at alternative drivetrains for future high performance models for the GM Australian lineup comes news that Holden will introduce a mainstream hybrid within two years. Nick Reilly, GM President Asia-Pacific was in Australia recently for an annual review at Holden and announced that the brand that developed the Zeta platform would introduce a gas-electric hybrid within two years. According to Reilly, the big Commodore sedan would likely be the first to go hybrid. Actually selling hybrids in Australia could prove problematic though since buyers there have generally shown little willingness to pay the extra cost. Reilly is encouraging the Australian federal government to introduce tax breaks to eliminate some of the financial sting for consumers.

Of particular interest to Americans is that the Commodore is now available in here as the Pontiac G8 and the new Camaro that is debuting this summer is also based on the same architecture. If a hybrid Commodore appears, it is almost a certainty to show up in at least the G8 and possibly the Camaro soon after. GM already showed a two-mode hybrid equipped concept pickup at the Chicago Auto Show called the GMC Denali XT which is built on the same platform. At the debut of the two-mode Tahoe last year, GM officials described a third smaller rear wheel drive passenger car variant of the system which could make its debut in the Commodore. The next generation of GM's mild hybrid is also possible and GM explicitly said that system could be used in rear wheel drive applications.

We contacted GM's US hybrid spokesman Brian Corbett for comment on which system might be used. Corbett declined comment on any unannounced products.

[Source: Sydney Morning Herald]

The second member of the Two-Mode hybrid partnership to bring a vehicle to the streets following GM's launch of the Tahoe/Yukon hybrids will be Chrysler. The Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen Hybrids don't actually go on sale to the the public until later this fall. However, the first "saleable" Aspen hybrid rolled silently off the assembly line at Chrysler's Newark, DE assembly plant on the March 10. So-called saleable units are typically built many months ahead of retail sales and built from production intent parts on production units. These vehicles are generally kept for internal use including durability testing and final validation of hardware and software. These vehicles will also be used for early media drives that will likely take place this summer. The Chrysler hybrids are using the same hybrid transmission used by GM supplied from that company's Baltimore transmission plant. The only difference is the case casting to allow it to interface with the Chrysler V-8 engine.

[Source: Red Letter Dodge]