Opel/Vauxhall Insignia Is The New Saturn Aura. Only Different.
Opel/Vauxhall's Insignia sedan debuted this weekend at the London Auto Show. The first Epsilon2-based car in GM's portfolio appears to be off to a great start. The biggest surprise so far: the Insignia looks stunning. Needless to say, there was some suspense when Maximum Bob Lutz was asked to confirm that the Insignia is coming stateside as the next gen Saturn Aura. Which was closely followed by stunned disappointment as the Man Of Maximum revealed that the Insignia IS the new Aura– but only under the skin. "We've researched the Insignia around the world, including the U.S., as an internationally spectacular new design, but the Saturn version will be its own car," says Lutz. So GM builds a mid-sized, front-wheel drive car that even Jeremy Clarkson likes (inside and out), and The General sends it to America to be fitted with (doubtless) tacky American couture. Why is GM spending money to redesign the looks of a perfectly desirable car?
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BRING IT! (and don't screw it up bu changing it). I have much more faith in Opel engineers than I do Detroit engineers -or rather Detroit marketing folks. Of course they will screw it up and it'll be as interesting as a Buick... VBG! Hoping Saturn does become Opel-West. I'd really like to see GM market the G8, Saturn Aura, Malibu and whatever Buick equivalent together. It is very, very easy to forget a division or twos products when pondering which sedan I might want to shop for... Think about it - six-eight distinctive GM sedans. All good. All competitive. All different. The only thing they ought to do make them last like a Honda.
I used to take issue with the whole GM deathwatch thing but now I have to agree. I really like this car and it puzzles me as to why GM would push its release back AND redesign it for our market. Why not leave it and bring it here quickly, saving development costs. If it isnt broke dont fix it. The Cruze will arrive with a torsion beam suspension? Maybe it will come with an 8 track MP3 player too. If your gonna be a player you have to at least match your competition, preferably outclass them(i.e. Civic in the case of the Cruze). They need to rid themselves of the current product czar and bring in some guys in their 20's or 30's to give them some perspective on the REAL market. We have an 04 Yukon we have had since new and if they put that kind of care into ALL their products they would be leading, not trying the "lets throw it against the wall and see if it sticks" approach.
schinbone- torsion beam= bigger trunk more people care about cargo space than "handling" It could be that the US "design" will simply be a matter of putting a less confusing climate control and radio in the car. Everyone here is assuming the worst.
Leave the trunk space to the Buicks and sell this just the way Opel makes 'em. Downgrading the handling in favor of trunk space is the first step to building another ho-hum car. They've got PLENTY of big trunks and marsh-mallow rides already. What's wrong with a FWD sedan that handles?