In addition to XM Satellite radio, the Aura’s stereo plays music through a six-disc CD changer, although this feature is rapidly becoming obsolete. GM has other nice benefits on offer, such as remote start (a pleasant luxury during cold weather) and the OnStar telematics service - a worthwhile safety net thanks to the automatic crash notification service, which you get even if you don’t subscribe to the more expensive concierge services. Optional brown Morocco leather seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and chrome-ringed analog instruments furnish the Aura’s interior with the air of a private library (a library that seems to be located very far away from the austere, plastic-lined mud room that characterized previous Saturn interiors).Īnother example of Saturn’s lightning-quick response to customers: In addition to the handsome black and brown leather interiors, a tan color is available to drivers in the Sun Belt who didn’t want such dark colors. A Saab 9-3 I tested recently, which shares the same corporate chassis under the skin, seemed to creak and groan occasionally, a foible that’s absent in the Aura. That may be in part thanks to a magnesium reinforcing beam that runs under the dashboard to strengthen the body shell. On the road the Aura is smooth, quiet and comfortable, conveying every impression of solid construction. Take one drive in the Aura and it’s easy to see why. More Saturns are coming on to the market, most significantly the Aura midsize sedan, which was voted North American Car of the Year for 2007 by a jury of automotive journalists at January’s Detroit auto show. By the end of this year, the Sky will be the oldest car in the company’s lineup, and there’s still likely to be a waiting list to buy one. Last year’s introduction of the red-hot, two-seater Sky roadster was the first indication of the big changes afoot at Saturn. Gone, at last, are the chintzy, Rubbermaid interiors and that flimsy feeling when closing doors. Think of it as an American Audi, or Volvo. Now Saturn is reinventing itself again, this time as a domestic near-luxury brand. So Saturn transformed itself from a unique boutique brand owned by GM into just another GM division, but with its scrappy underdog gimmick gone, buyers stayed away in droves. The little plastic-bodied cars churned out of Spring Hill, Tenn., gained a cult following, but Honda and Toyota pressed their attacks, and slow development of new models left Saturn in the dust. General Motors launched the brand to duke it out with Honda and Toyota in the lightweight car division, building inexpensive subcompact cars for Americans, by Americans. Saturn has had a few false starts of late.
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