Aura

Without much doubt, I can say that the upcoming Saturn Aura will be my next car and my second Saturn. I think it's coming out at the end of summer and Saturn just started doing ads for it. I'm getting excited. I really love the look of the car. I think it's much better looking, inside and out, than the Malibu and G6. Only the 9-3 is sharper looking on the exterior but I really don't like the Saab's interior. I know Saab used to make jets and that's great, but I don't want my interior to look like a cockpit.


It's built on the longer wheelbase version of the platform that the Pontiac G6, Chevrolet Malibu, and Saab 9-3 share, so it's a slightly larger car. Two engines will be offered but the one I'm excited about is the 250-hp 3.6 liter DOHC V6 that the Cadillac CTS currently uses. It's a great engine. It will also feature a six-speed automatic transmission, a first by GM in this class. There's a big chance that it will be offered with a six-speed manual -- oh what a dream. I really hate automatics in cars. It's standard procedure to offer a manual with their 4-cylinder engines so if the V6 manual doesn't pan out, I'll probably get the 4-cylinder.


I really like Saturn's market plan. It's going upscale to replace the spot Oldsmobile once had. It's really a great strategy. Saturn has a much better brand image than anything Oldsmobile could revive. As one friend once told me "Saturn is the GM car for people who hate GM" and there's certainly a lot of truth to that (well not in my case though). It's extremely popular in the media and society to hate GM and this is why Saturn's image should succeed where Oldsmobile struggled because there's a large demographic of people that don't even know that Saturn is GM and it isn't viewed as "your father's Oldsmobile."

In any event, I can't wait for it arrive at the dealership in town (btw - Saturn dealerships are reknown for their great experience and service) so I can go out and test drive it.