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The Saturn Astra is the first Saturn I have ever had any interest in whatsoever. The advance reviews have generally been positive, even though this generation of the Opel Astra has been on the road overseas since 2004. The Astra is likely to attract a wave of new customers who for years, like me, would rather have been run over by a GM vehicle than own or drive one. GM would do well to listen to these consumers to find out what they actually want, and then try to provide it. Treat customers well and they'll buy from you again, if you have something decent to sell.

Thoughts:

This Opel-as-a-Saturn plan was hatched before the dollar became worthless. GM is sure to lose so much money on every sale they would likely be thrilled to sell no Astras here now. However, since Saturn needs an image-builder so very badly, the losses will be offset by increased sales of Vues, etc., due to increased customer awareness.

Another concern: GM has a long track record of importing disguised Opels, botching the execution, advertising, etc., then abandoning them for good. The 1988-'93 Pontiac LeMans (pronounced "Lemon" by most) was an Opel Kadett “E” (1985 European Car of the Year), but shoddily assembled by Daewoo in Korea, with a weak base engine or a very rough optional “sport” engine. They only came to the U.S. in a 2-door hatchback and a 4-door sedan (seem familiar??), no wagon. The Cadillac Catera (remember the duck ads?) was a disguised Opel Omega, but weighed down terribly by chassis reinforcements and a spongy "Cadillac" ride. The 1976-1979 Buick-Opel-by-Isuzu was a Japanese-built Opel Kadett “C”, but only came with a 1.8 liter (familiar?) engine borrowed straight from the Chevy Luv pickup, only offered in 2-door fastback or 4-door sedan versions, again no wagons. The real German Opels imported to the US from 1963-1975 are still driven by obsessive, caring owners who rejoice in finding ways to improve horsepower and drivability since GM couldn’t be bothered to do it before they dropped them from the market.

Early reports indicate the Astra will indeed be the first decent and worthwhile vehicle with a Saturn badge. Without providing the American customer with turbo-diesels, wagons, Redline engines and 6-speed transmissions (all readily available to European buyers) I’m afraid they’ll end up like their orphaned Opel ancestors.  

After reading Joe's article about the Saturn Astra and seeing they had a coupe I had to see what we were missing in the USA again. Granted Opel has not has a very good reputation when coming to America, but I had to look. While the coupe looks a lot like an old Cavalier, the three door hatchback i like. PLEASE GM, bring us Redline engines with sport packages. I like coupes since I need to get my wheelchair in through the bigger doors.