Enthusiasts here in the States have long wondered why they couldn't buy Ford and GM small cars from Europe, and at least part of the answer has been that Americans don't want to pay big bucks for premium small cars. Spiking gasoline prices have quelled that argument, and fuel economy is now towards the top of shoppers' lists when looking for a new car or truck. While Ford is still more than a year away from bringing over the Euro Focus and Fiesta, GM has made the cross-Atlantic jump by importing the Opel Astra to our shores. The Astra is a hot-selling hatch in Europe with high-end ... Read More

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C&D crowns Saturn Astra safest car under $25k 1187703480

The Saturn Astra hasn't even hit production, but Car and Driver has already named the three-door version of the small hatch the safest car in the US under $25,000. This point becomes interesting when considering that NHTSA hasn't even crash tested Saturn's still unreleased model, but the European NCAP has. While the NCAP testing is worth precisely zero ...
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Chicago Auto Show: Live unveiling of the 2008 Saturn Astra 1170871740

Click above image to view a high-resolution gallery of the new Saturn AstraSaturn just rolled out the new Astra to the crowd at the Chicago Auto Show, with the automaker claiming that the compact will help fulfill the brand's promise to bring "appropriate and affordable technology", "great design", and "quality without compromise" to customers. The Astra ...
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Detroit Auto Show: A conversation with Jill Lajdziak 1168789020

Saturn general manager Jill Lajdziak's enthusiasm for her brand is infectious. And really, who can blame her? The charismatic and ebullient Ms. Lajdziak is at the helm of a brand that's critical to GM's product-based turnaround plan and which has seen its entire lineup overhauled over a very short timeframe. It's paying off, too. The day before we ...
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Making it official: Saturn Astra confirmed by GM 1165582380

At a GM function Autoblog attended Wednesday night, Mark LaNeve, in his remarks to the assembled media, mentioned the Astra by name when responding to a question about Saturn. That was the first time we'd heard anyone from GM refer to the forthcoming Ion replacement by its Opel moniker in a Saturn context, and given LaNeve's stature, we took notice. We ...