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The New Saturn Vue Takes Its German Roots Seriously

Agent009 submitted on 2/22/2008 Official Bell & Ross Timestamp: 3:07:03 PM

29 user comments | Category: New Cars | Source: | SOURCE: www.usatoday.com

The 2008 Saturn Vue SUV, a full redesign, is nearly identical to the German Opel Antara model that General Motors, parent to both brands, sells in Europe.

Saturn is trying to morph from GM's touchy-feely brand to its Euro marque, so it kept as much German feel as possible.

GM is trying to cut costs by sharing development and components rather than starting from scratch on each new vehicle.

Besides being a near-twin of Antara, including visually, Vue shares some underpinnings with GM's Chevrolet Equinox and Pontiac Torrent, and with GM affiliate Suzuki's XL-7, but shares no body parts.

"Call them 'cousins,' not 'siblings,' " says Saturn's Mike Morrissey.

 



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The New Saturn Vue Takes Its German Roots Seriously

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Agent009

"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough."

— Agent009 (View Profile)


User Comments

EL34

That, is a beautiful SUV :-)

— EL34 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/22/2008 3:25:19 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 5   

Htay7500

as beautiful as an aztec?

— Htay7500 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/22/2008 3:41:43 PM | | Votes: -8   

Bmw8ter

They're really not bad looking, in person. But, FWD and SUV sounds like an oxymoron to me.

— Bmw8ter (View Profile)

Posted on 2/22/2008 3:42:46 PM | | Votes: 5   

Htay7500

I think alone 2WD suvs are much of an oxymoron.

— Htay7500 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/22/2008 3:44:39 PM | | Votes: 4   

EnnNorak

My wife and I looked at it and rejected it early on. Lack of front passenger seat height adjustment makes me bang my head on the roof every time I get into it. As for looks, the top model has a nicer interior but its front bumper hangs so low as to invite costly damage when parking nose first against a curb. I wish GM would just stick the Opel logo on it which looks a lot better than the Saturn logo. Another styling problem for me is 6-spoke rims on a 5-bolt wheel. I want the number of spokes to match the number of bolts or be a multiple of the number of bolts.

— EnnNorak (View Profile)

Posted on 2/23/2008 1:16:18 AM | | Votes: 2   

EnnNorak

Htay7500, 2WD vehicles are OK as long as they are RWD with LSD.

— EnnNorak (View Profile)

Posted on 2/23/2008 1:19:56 AM | | Votes: 0   

carguy68

but it's a saturn

— carguy68 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/22/2008 3:28:55 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -2   

Htay7500

the vue and the CRV both look...ugh.

— Htay7500 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/22/2008 3:43:09 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -3   

Bored

I'll agree with you on the new CRV. The Vue is just too heavy by about 400-500 lbs.

— Bored (View Profile)

Posted on 2/22/2008 4:07:39 PM | | Votes: 2   

EnnNorak

Bored, I don't like the CRV mechanicals but weight is good as it improves the sprung to unsprung weight ratio for a better ride.

— EnnNorak (View Profile)

Posted on 2/23/2008 1:18:44 AM | | Votes: 0   

M35MT

Looks much better than its predessecor

— M35MT (View Profile)

Posted on 2/22/2008 4:35:23 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

Matthew1

"The New Saturn Vue Takes Its German Roots Seriously"

The irony here is that the car was designed by GM's studio in Korea.

— Matthew1 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/22/2008 4:55:47 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

abcd

and this "german" opel antara is rebadged and slightly redesigned chevrolet(daewoo) captiva in europe

— abcd (View Profile)

Posted on 2/22/2008 5:53:50 PM | | Votes: 3   

abcd

exacly its almost completly korean car

— abcd (View Profile)

Posted on 2/22/2008 6:00:05 PM | | Votes: 3   

EnnNorak

On the subject of Korea, the coming KIA Borrego is on my shopping list because it has body-on-frame construction and a powerful yet efficient DOHC V8 which is longitudinally mounted.

— EnnNorak (View Profile)

Posted on 2/23/2008 1:26:55 AM | | Votes: -1   

S4cabriofoxone

We care.

— S4cabriofoxone (View Profile)

Posted on 2/24/2008 10:00:51 PM | | Votes: 0   

0to60

Who is this guy?

— 0to60 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/22/2008 8:25:13 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

KZ258

"Who is this guy?"


LOL

— KZ258 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/22/2008 9:40:43 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

njshift

Wankel = Broken for life...

— njshift (View Profile)

Posted on 2/23/2008 9:24:53 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: -1   

EnnNorak

Saturn is American only to the extent that certain models are actually manufactured in America. Any company claiming to be selling an American product should be forced to disclose the foreign content. If you rebadge an Opel, the vehicle is German not American. I'd like to see more European and Asian auto makers set up manufacturing facilities in North America.

— EnnNorak (View Profile)

Posted on 2/23/2008 1:32:19 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

1000rrRider

Most of GM's new models except truck's and a couple of cars are engineered in Europe by Opel/Vauxhall or old Daewoo in Korea.

— 1000rrRider (View Profile)

Posted on 2/22/2008 7:26:00 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

91z4me

Actually the Malibu/G6, Solstice/Sky, Impala/Grand Prix/Lacrosse, Lucerne/DTS, G5/Cobalt/HHR, Equinox/Torrent, Traverse/Enclave/Acadia/Outlook, Corvette/XLR, CTS/STS/SRX, Silverado/Sierra, H1, H2, H3, and Tahoe/Suburban/Yukon/Yukon XL (including Denali series)/Escalade SUVs are all US based products w/ most being sold only in North America.

The only products I can think of being sourced from Daewoo are the Vue (by way of German tuning), and Aveo the Aura, 9-3, and 9-5 are European based (obviously this makes sense for the SAABs and now the upcoming Saturn lineup. The G8 is sourced from GM's Australian arm, GM Holden (who actually owns GM Daewoo and not the other way around).

— 91z4me (View Profile)

Posted on 2/23/2008 11:09:47 AM | | Votes: 0   

ktu01

Actually, the Chevy Cobalt (sedan and coupe) are heavily based on the previous generation Opel Astra coupe and sedan (not the one currently being sold by Saturn) in Europe.

— ktu01 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/23/2008 2:35:46 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

MKIIIdb

Well, while you guys bicker about platforms, and where the saturn lineup derives from, im interject some of my comments.
Its overall a very well built vehicle. competent, def not. Its grossly overweight, and def not a formidable competitor the RAV4 and CR-V.

— MKIIIdb (View Profile)

Posted on 2/23/2008 3:32:37 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

huu76

"Saturn is trying to morph from GM's touchy-feely brand to its Euro marque"

I remember saying this a few years back when everyone was talking about what GM should do and which brands to kill. The only thing different was I said they should drop Saturn and change it to Opel if they want a Euro image.

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/24/2008 1:02:36 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

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