Furthermore, the Opel is identical to the Sky… regardless of which car preceeded the other.

The Aura and the Malibu are extremely similar too. go to the dealerships and sit in both… engines, transmissions, stereo, a/c, feautures, gauges, buttons… it’s all the same parts bin. A good parts bin, but the Saturn is very similar under its skin to the Opel/Vauxhall; we just get less choices.

The Accord and Camry are overrated and don’t even compete. Americans would rather drive a GM product anyways

An American Revolution

GM vehicles have better residuals than ever. Just look at the lease rates on GM cars vs Honda and Toyota cars. Conversely the import brands are discounting and rebating more than they ever have before. I would never base a car purchasing decision on potential resale value. That is someting you cannot predict with certainty and I think it’s funny that the main thing Toyota and Honda owners think about is how much their car will be worth when they get rid of it. Resale values are also calculated based on MSRPs so it’s tough to actually know what true resale numbers are. Even if your car is worth more you can make up the difference via low financing or other deals offered by American brands when it’s time for a new car.

Same goes for the Camry, which is $2500 more expensive than the Aura, and with one less gear, to boot.

If Saturn, over time, continues to build excellent midsize cars at a lower price than Camry and Accord, it will take sales from them.

The Aura is truly economical, since it gets better milage AND costs less to buy.

The Opel Antara, Saturn Vue, and the Chevy Captiva/Daewoo G3X all may ride the same platform, but the platform is not a Daewoo design. It’s a GM design. And since 2005, GM has globalized its design and engineering processes. The Theta II is one of the first vehicle platforms to call no particular country home.

The Vectra and Aura share no body panels, no engines (except the 3.6L, IIRC), and they don’t share an interior, either. They only share headlights. They’re as different as the Aura and Malibu.

The Opel GT is built in WILMINGTON, DE, and came into being only AFTER the Sky and Solstice were on the market here.

The Outlook is all-American.

Only the Astra is a direct European or Asian transplant. The rest were designed either globally, or in America only.

And the reason Saturn sales aren’t taking off is because Saturn is chasing a new market segment: mainstream cars. Saturn now has 4 vehicles out of 5 that can be equipped above $30k. No one’s used to buying a midsize sedan, or a large crossover from Saturn. But, given the fact that they canned their best-selling car, the Ion, and sales haven’t fallen, but stayed the same, means that they ARE making inroads in the midsize/larger vehicle market. They can’t get Astras here in good supply (plus they’re expensive for what you get), so considering that Saturn is barely competing in a market they used to own, and is fielding vehicles in segments they’ve never been in (or underrepresented) before, and has maintained sales levels from the last 5 years, I’d say they’re doing just fine.

And they’re doing it with all above-average (some are class-leading) vehicles, to boot. Not bad at all.

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GM’s South Korean division designed what we call the Saturn Vue, and what the Europeans call the Opel Antara. It is also sold in Asian markets as the Chevrolet Captiva. Yes, all 3 were a project of the division known as GMDAT.

Now the Outlook is not Opel based, it’s just the same think as the Chevy Traverse, Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia.

This is all good news though, no reason to hide it. Opel is an excellent brand, they’ve won several awards for their quality, design and engineering. GM does Saturn well by imitating Opel. Not unlike VW, the new Saturn line is an upscale mainstream brand that sits above Toyota and Honda “in upscale feel” on the way to a more luxurious brand. I think GM would like for Cadillac to be that next step, but it’s probably BMW or Audi.

What we need to figure out is: why are these cars not selling better? I like the Astra a lot. If I didn’t already own a small car in my Z4, I would be all over it. The ride is solid and the whole car feels like it was built way better than your typical econobox. People should be flocking to Saturn dealers are their great revamping of an awful line of vehicles into this new modern and superior Saturn.

I also wondered a bit about the Luxury tagging for this. It looks like a nicely equipped Aura, but it’s not really mcuch of a luxury car… that said, I really haven’t spent any time in the Aura, so unlike most of you internet tough guys, I won’t make a snap judgement about a car I haven’t driven. Until I drive one, I rely on reviews like this!

GM could have done a much better job on the Aura and especially the G6 though. If only they put in the right amount of time into both of those vehicles. Another odd complaint- both have very small trunks. Especially the Aura.

This isn’t an Opel/Vauxhall in Saturn drag at all.

And LLLL#3, $25,915 for a loaded 4cyl Aura IS about $1k less than a comparably equipped Accord (EX-L Auto $26,925) and $2500 less than a comparably equipped Camry (XLE Auto Option B $28,314).

The Aura’s a bargain for under $26k

This is a 100% American product. It is not one of the Opels being brought in as a Saturn. In fact, there is only one Saturn that answers that description today. That’s the Astra. The Outlook is an American Lamda platform prodcut. The Vue is from GM’s South Korean unit called GMDAT. And the Sky is American as well.
Do your homework.

Nice.

“I don’t want to be seen in this POS, so let’s make this one short…”