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Here are the first official photos of the Opel Vectra, which is a big deal for us in North America where the Vectra will emerge as the Saturn Aura sometime in 2006. The Aura will at least have its own grille, rear end treatment and roofline, if not more, to differentiate it visually from the Vectra. Thanks to hp for the tip.
PS - Here's the press release Opel issued on the Vectra from Autoindex.org.
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Chris Paukert joins the usual crew of Chris, Sam, and Dan, summarily classing up the joint.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Joel A 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
Huh. Looks like a European-ized Camry. The Aura (at least the concept) looks stunning (though I still think the G6 is hot.)
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Lester Jones 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
this peice of crap looks like a 4 door saturn sky... did i say i did not like it... GM cant make a good car if there life depends on it... it does and they dont...
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Ian 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
Hopefully the Saturn will get also the Opel interior trim - the "new" Astra is extremely nice inside and I'm sure the Vectra follows suit.
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James Ollinger 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
Why is GM incapable of marketing and positioning the Opel as a brand in the US? They've tried several times and failed--in a country that generally admires German engineering.
How bad are things when they have to sneak these cars in under another badge--this time as a Saturn, last time as a Cadillac...
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Chris 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
THIS IS NOT THE AURA.
The Vectra uses the shorter wheelbase Epsilon platform, much like the Malibu and Saab 9-3. The Aura uses the long wheelbase Epsilon platform, and will have a very different roofline and tail treatment from what we see on the Vectra. Only the front bits will be carried over to the Aura. It would be more accurate to say this is a preview of the Aura's face.
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David Thomas 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
And even through the German you can read the word "Refresh" for this one. Although how awesome would the malibu be if it looked like this?
inside especially
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Seth L 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
To #3, because Opels are boring and most of the platforms are already here as GM's?
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JG3 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
The Saturn L-Series was a lightly revamped Opel, too.
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mj10990 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
Eh-I am not impressed.
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Geoff 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
David- I was thinking the exact same thing. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why GM cannot make a decent interior in most of their domestic cars.
I don't love the exterior of this Vectra, but it looks tons better than that of the Malibu. A Malibu with that shape would probably be a lot more competitive.
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Motorin' 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
All this reminded me of is that I really miss having Auto Motor und Sport on PBS.
Not bad...still waiting to see the actual Aura though.
If you don't like the looks of the Vectra, then just relieve your eyes with their Beachstuck girls photo set. Gotta love the Euro/German car mags...
http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/d/83832
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iQuack 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
I agree with #5--the Aura will be sleeker than the Vectra and my guess is that it'll be like the 2006 Holden Commodore pictured at the site below.
The Saturn Aura will have a better looking front end; more like the Saturn Sky.
http://www.carspyshots.net/zerothread?id=15574
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Richard Warren 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
#4
"Why is GM incapable of marketing and positioning the Opel as a brand in the US? They've tried several times and failed--in a country that generally admires German engineering."
Sort of looks like a Mazda 3
Well, first in the 50's who wanted an Opel? My best friend had a 57, can you say S**TBOX?
Then who wants to buy a German piece of engineering from a Buick dealer that could give a rats ahole about an Opel? Why sell one? The real profit is sitting on the showroom floor, an Electra 225 loaded. By the time Opel did sort of establish themselves the compact car craze was over, hence no sales.
About the time Buick was chosen for the Opel adventure, Pontiac was chosen for the Vauxhall franchise another pile of garbage.
I don't know how old some of the posters are here but it's sort of nice to remember some of this before Alzhimers sets in and I can forget it all. :)
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Patriotic Dissent 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
I think the Vectra is a great looking car, as is the Opel/Vauxhall Astra. If GM was smart (which we know they aren't) they'd bring the Astra in to replace the Ion. Make Saturn a "Euro" brand with available turbodiesel engines and all! I'd buy one.
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Earnest P. Coltrain 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
This sums it fairly accurately:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/content/1118869047520372965/index.php
One lame car after the other, one lame interior after the other...but for some weird reason, statistically they look great on the Excel spreadsheets of GM...as if this were the same as marketing soap at Wal-Mart.
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Ian Opp 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
The design kills me. if Joan Rivers and the Malibu got together and had a love child....
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GB 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
I agree with the first comment that the Aura concept at the shows looked better than this one here.
I recently took an exterior styling survey at www.vehiclevoice.com and the Aura did very well judging by their results. They had several concepts to rate the exterior styling of each.
Think I read somewhere that GM is going to start putting some money into interiors, something like $200 per car. Correct me if I'm wrong. Maybe starting with the next full-size SUVs?
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hokman 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
But when is a concept car not as good looking than the production model.
GM is wasting money and time making like 3 versions of the Epsilon vectra. The Malibu, G6 and Aura are just the same car with different skin. Even though there's 3 different models, the customer still doesn't have much choice because the lack of hatchback and estate/wagon. Why don't they just sell the vectra in North america, saving money on various inferior designs and making more sales? Bob Lutz has problems.
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