Jealous of all those sexy European cars? Hello Saturn..

[azenthusiast]

As far as Saturn goes, that hatchback doesn't do much for me. However, I do think that GM did an awesome job with the Aura. However, I think all the cars they have based on the platform are pretty attractive. Honestly, I think the styling of American vehicles has gotten much more interesting since the 90's.

 

[simracer]

Puma, not a bad effort and hasnt been sold for since around 2000.

It was discontinued in 2002, but is rumored to be revived in '08 based on the Reflex concept car.

Dont dream yourself in to thinking the grass is greener for these Ford and GM brands in Europe, it isnt!! Your sense of perception is just a little out. They look trendy to you, b/c you have less small neat cars. On the scale of small neat cars (except maybe the new Focus) they are fairly average, undesirable efforts.

Geoff

I don't think you understand. I'm not saying those Fords are great compared to what other offerings are available in Europe. I'm saying the European Fords tend to have more appealing exteriors, more sporting interiors, more aggressive suspension tuning and better engines relative to their more civilian geared U.S. Ford counterparts. The '02 MKIII Mondeo ST220 was a very handsome car and came equipped with a 3L V6 far before the '05 Ford Fusion came on the radar in the U.S. And as far as the Focus RS? I don't seem to recall our SVT Focus coming with a turbo and a Quaife. Sadly, the SVT Contour and Focus seemed like little more than mild cosmetic and suspension packages.

 

[phamkl]

I agree with those who say Saturn has improved greatly. Sure, it's still a budget car, but the quality is much higher than it was 10 years ago. For one thing, the body panels are actually made of steel and not plastic

Have you ever had or experienced a Saturn when they were plastic? It was by far the best thing about the car.



They're switching to steel panels now because it's too expensive to have a plastic mold system just for Saturn as it would either require having a different chassis or require having a mold that made panels exactly like metal ones being made.



I had a bad day one day and gave my car a flying knee. No dent. I dare you to do that to a car that's not plastic!

 

[vwgtivw]

No *hot* version and only 2 doors will keep sales low IMO. Even Honda went 4 doors with the Si.

It will come in a 5 door.

 

[3wide]

Is that a Chevy Malibu in your avatar? No offence, but it's no better in terms of resale. Same goes for most domestic vehicles.

i'll agree chevy's resale isn't the best, but they still hold better than saturns. i guess it all depends on how much you pay for the car in the first place. the chevy i had before my malibu stickered at 17.5 and i payed, out the door, 10. my black malibu stickered at 26 i payed out the door 20.5. i figure that what i saved on the sticker price takes car of the first year hit on the resale value. after that the drop isn't so severe. in a perfect world i'd drive it for the next 10 years and then resale value doesn't mean a think. but like i said, that's in a perfect world.

 

[steelwind101]

It was discontinued in 2002, but is rumored to be revived in '08 based on the Reflex concept car.







I don't think you understand. I'm not saying those Fords are great compared to what other offerings are available in Europe. I'm saying the European Fords tend to have more appealing exteriors, more sporting interiors, more aggressive suspension tuning and better engines relative to their more civilian geared U.S. Ford counterparts. The '02 MKIII Mondeo ST220 was a very handsome car and came equipped with a 3L V6 far before the '05 Ford Fusion came on the radar in the U.S. And as far as the Focus RS? I don't seem to recall our SVT Focus coming with a turbo and a Quaife. Sadly, the SVT Contour and Focus seemed like little more than mild cosmetic and suspension packages.

Fair enough point. Things like the ST220 are priced very much near or in BMW's, Merc price range. I dont know if its price that would make them not sell those cars in the USA or if people are happy to except Fords for less in the USA.

 

[Macruz19]

When I think of Saturn, I think of an abused car with door dings, and deep scratches, and crappy aggressive drivers that don't care about their car except from going point A to point B.



I see Saturn and GM in general trying to put out the latest technology and style on their cars, but IMO I still would never buy them. I just don't like their interiors period.



Good friend of mine has a Saturn ION coupe the manual version. I sat in it, but not that impressed. Car sounds fast BTW, but don't like the styling.

 

[steelwind101]

One thought i had was that *IF* Ford was to bring out a range of smaller cars in the USA based on or the same as the European models it might lead to that section of the market opening.



Once people identify with that section of the market for the cars, soon enough brands like Seat, Peugeot, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, VW will begin to offer smaller cars in the USA market. This could be bad for Ford as it could cut down there market share. If public opinion and there for production switch mainly to smaller cars this could lead to a decline in the size of Ford.



It would be a big risk to take to create that market sector, and not one im sure they would win.

 

[stiffdogg06]

Looks like a Saturn Sky and a VW GTi smashed together. :nana:





- Andrew

 

[imported_Jakerooni]

Looks like a colbalt mated with a civic to me. Really nothing there worth oogling over. Might be a nice car but looks just like everything else out on the roads these days. The styling world has really went blah these past years.... And as a former designer for GM I can honestly say GM has no originality at all. Just more of the same ol same ol

 

[3wide]

Looks like a colbalt mated with a civic to me. Really nothing there worth oogling over. Might be a nice car but looks just like everything else out on the roads these days. The styling world has really went blah these past years.... And as a former designer for GM I can honestly say GM has no originality at all. Just more of the same ol same ol

i'll admit all i've ever owned and all i most likely will own are gm vehicles. but i'll also admit most of there vehicles are vanilla at best. never go by the gm pre-production photos, the productions cars never look as good. the pre-production photos will look great with a nice stance and perfect wheel and tire combo. then you see the car on the lot and say great they messed up another one. i think gm's most common mistake is way too concervative wheel and tire combo's. although they did it right on my 07 malibu ltz, and the 08 malibu's will have 18's. but again i've only seen pre-production photos so i'm not holding my breath!!