The newest Saturn is.....a Vauxhall

Oh god avoid it! If it’s anything like the Vauxhall Astra we have in the uk it’s an appalling car. Build quality is dire, with interior fabric easily damaged (leather on steering wheel peeling off after 1 year) and the ride somehow manages to have copious amounts of body roll, yet is still hard and crashy and the steering has absolutely no feel, quite an achievement really.

 

From what I've read, the old Astra was not so good, but the new Astra is a huge improvement and is selling well. FWIW, there's going to be a lot of crossover between Opel and Saturn going forward, which, I think, is GREAT for Saturn.

Now if they would only bring some of those diesels back over the pond...

 

Astra, Vauxhall, Saturn, is it the same car?
Here in UK, Vauxhall is just a badge on Opel. Opel or Vauxhall are just very 'average' cars, nothing to get exited about.
Vauxhall (at least some of them) were built in UK, but now the factory is closed, and I presume they come from Spain (like the Corsa?). Where will the Saturn Astra come from; that the IMPORTANT question, much more than what they look like.

GM is just weird!
Now, they market here Deawoo(s) called Chevrolet (I haven't seem a stampede in the showroom yet!) , but if you want to buy a Corvette, don't go to a Chevrolet dealer, you have to go to a Cadillac dealer! What nonsense!!

Also, the latest Cadillac is a SAAB in disguise. I think I read that in the States GM market a Subaru called SAAB. Is that right?

All that badge engineering is very confusing don't look very serious to me; no wonder GM is in trouble. Do them expect customers loyalty by treating them like this?

 

William is right, it’s very important to identify the origin of build for the cars. When I was 17 I went through a few Vauxhalls and the build quality difference between those built in Germany (very good) and those build in Spain and the UK (very bad) was vast. This should not detract from the general lack of anything constituting handling which is the predominant trait for all the Vauxhall fwd cars I’ve driven, and that’s pretty much all in their line up since ‘91. Their rwd offering, the omega is/was actually quite good.

From my experience if you want a good cheap fun handling economy box, get a ford focus.

 

If it was my own money, at the Astra's price point, I'd go for any of the following 3 (depending on lifestyle/requirements): Mini Cooper, used Lotus Elise, used BMW 3 series.

 

You are right they have a SAAB station wagon based on the Subaru Impreza. I don't think anybody is falling for that one.

Even is the Vauxhall Astra is a below par car, it may be vastly superior to whatever Saturn has arround here.

 

GM is easily doing better than Ford or Chrysler.

 

True, I read that their sales are up 15%.
Ford is really on the ropes now.
Can't figure out Chrysler. They are slowly capturing a piece of the market here in UK (don't forget they didn't used to be imported until a few years ago).

Strange that the 3 big American car makers are in trouble nowadays, everybody in Europe used to look up to them 25/30 years ago.

 

I thought Chrysler was doing well with their old E class based cars (300 and Charger)...they are not?

 

They are, rental car agencies love them...