Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, Saturn, Rumormill
2010 Saturn Aura put on hold?
Click above for high-res gallery of the Opel Insignia
After seeing plenty of shots of Opel's new Insignia mid-sizer, we're anxiously awaiting General Motor's official announcement of its statewide debut as the next-gen Saturn Aura. Unfortunately, current rumors indicate that we'll be waiting a bit longer than initially planned, as the project has reportedly been put on hold for an undetermined amount of time. We're fuzzy on what prompted the hold-up, though some conjecture has been heard regarding the fuel economy of the impending vehicle. In Europe, there are four gasoline engines and three diesels available, though we have serious doubts that many if any of those powerplants will make it Stateside. It's certainly possible that today's high fuel prices are causing GM to rethink getting one of its smaller gas engines certified for sale in the U.S. We can be sure, though, that this expected new vehicle launch will be an important one for the future of the Saturn brand, so perhaps GM is wise to get everything sorted out before its official debut. Thanks for the tip, Mark!
Gallery: Opel / Vauxhall Insignia
[Source: GM Inside News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Mike Oransy 1:37PM (6/27/2008)
Yes, kill the best looking and most likely performing car in the mid size FWD segment to come out of the opel/saturn partnership. That will help sales...
Just bring it over with the Diesel!
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Taser 2:39PM (6/27/2008)
Engine is not certified for the US.
Allen 1:39PM (6/27/2008)
well they had better. this car smacks everything else in the class. like it matters anyway, its not a honda so....
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cheezwiz 3:00PM (6/27/2008)
Right. If it were a Honda, you'd be able to get it with a fuel efficient 4-cyl engine.
Noe 10:23AM (6/28/2008)
^^ thats rev's to 9000 to get 160 ho and no torque
Noe 10:25AM (6/28/2008)
sorry too many typo's, i meant honda would have an engine that would have to rev to 9000 rpm to get 160 hp and no torque!
TBlueMax 1:43PM (6/27/2008)
Would love to see this car come stateside sooner than later. Handsome design and certainly a step up from the current Aura.
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Juan 1:59PM (6/27/2008)
The Insignia looks very attractive and I love the name. Why not call it the Saturn Insignia?
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johnny 2:03PM (6/27/2008)
People said bring the Holden GTO from Australia and it will sell like hotcakes. Why cant we get rear drive awesome cars like that. Pontiac brought it over and no one bought it.
People said bring the Astra over please. Why cant we get nice euro cars like that. Saturn brought it over and its zero percent financing 72 months right now.
People said bring the G8 over please. Its doing ok but its not setting the world on fire.
People said the Aura would sell like no tomorrow, well it is not selling all that well.
And the list goes on and on. Even in the 80s Ford brought Merkur over and it tanked. The Allante tanked. The Daewoo cars tanked.
And now we clamour over the Focus and others.
I guess the grass is always greener somewhere else and what you dont have you always thing you should yet you dont buy.
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styleguy 2:16PM (6/27/2008)
We're not buying RWD because America is in a frenzy over gas prices. If we were to be normal and buy fuel efficient cars that were nice, then no problems would arise. That's why we need the Insignia.
Justin 2:25PM (6/27/2008)
Simple answer:
Car enthusiasts do not dominate the market. Penny-pinching throw away types do.
I'm continuously ashamed of how my fellow countrymen don't really shop all the perspectives, they just listen to consumer reports or buy the cheapest thing they can find with the intention of ditching it in a few years.
Rick 7:29PM (6/27/2008)
The moral of the story? US car makers will find a way to SCREW UP a perfectly good car when they rebadge it for US consumption. Saturn knows how to take a cool car and make it look retarded.
The G8 is hot, but for $30K +? Who needs that much power for a daily driver?
The GTO is 2 door I believe, crowded market and nothing about it stands out.
Astra? That was ugly to begin with, then you add a Saturn logo on it and expect it to sell?
GM needs to put a Chevy logo on these imports if they want them to sell. Saturn isn't exactly a staple of quialty cars, resale, performance and overall value.
cheezwiz 3:06PM (6/27/2008)
Isn't the solution to making RWD fuel efficient is to put the engine in the back? At that point it's just a FWD car whose wheels spin the other direction.
I'd love to see more RWD cars on the market with mid engine and the fuel economy of a FWD.Let's face it, if the Civic were available mid engined, RWD we (here) would all buy it.
Just a hair brained thought...
Dan 5:22PM (6/27/2008)
I would think rear engine + RWD would make for poor weight balance and be prone to oversteer.
Putting the trunk up front would be difficult to jibe with the modern theory that you need to walk away from a brick wall at 40mph so half the engine compartment should be crumple frame.
Plus people would need to learn how to reverse into parking spaces.
MikeW 8:26PM (6/27/2008)
Rear engine & rear drive is fine.
You put the skinny tires on the front, the wide tires on the rear. See Smart, 155s on 4.5" on the front axle, 175s on 5.5" on the DeDion rigid axle.
or you can get 175s on the front and 195s on the rear. and the Brabus has 175s/225s
A decade ago the standard tires on the 911 was 205/50 17 and 255/40 17, with the boxster having 205/225 f/r
http://www.autozine.org/blog/archives/31
Mike 8:10PM (6/29/2008)
I can't speak for what the "people" want but I do iknow what "I" want and Detroit ain't makin' it.
Alex 2:03PM (6/27/2008)
For a change GM should try being a step ahead in the midsize family sedan segment instead of one back. They should bring it here ASAP, that car is far more attractive than the accord or camry or any of their current offerings here for that matter (minus CTS but that's for a different market).
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TriShield 2:04PM (6/27/2008)
The irony of this situation is this Opel could be the best midsize offered in the US but nobody will buy it. Saturn's new lineup modeled after Opel's styling is a complete bomb.
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psarhjinian 2:21PM (6/27/2008)
Translation: we're not sure if we're even keeping Saturn, or if we'll even be in business, by that time.
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LMBVette 4:04PM (6/27/2008)
You hit the nail on the head.
There are rumors that GM may claim Chapter 11. If this is the case, they will most likely jetison more than one division (GMC is a lock).