AFSCME 3357-HOF'S BLOG

GM Shows off Latest Wares at the Indiana State Fair
Saturn Aura and Chevrolet Aveo 4-door look to be hits.

General Motors is showcasing its latest and greatest products at the Indiana State Fair. I only had about 15 minutes to look at the various tents that were displaying the new cars and trucks, so I didn't get to look at the vehicles in detail, but it was obvious that GM was making an effort to put its best stuff in front of the public.

The car that got the most attention was the 2008 Chevrolet Camaro prototype. I don't have much to say about it except that you couldn't really see inside it well, and the outside looked like the pictures that have circulated on the internet and in car magazines.

The star of the show in my mind was the Saturn Aura. The Aura is Saturn's new midsized car model. It is derived from the Opel Astra, and it is very European in character. The car on display, an XR, looked wellbuilt and finished inside and out. More than anything, it reminded me of a current model Volkswagen Passat. It also reminded me of the Cadillac CTS. The display model was black with black leather interior. As a high-line XR model, it had the "high feature" 3.6-liter 252 horsepower engine with the new sequential shift 6-speed automatic transmission. It also had a panoramic sunroof. I believe the price was around $27,000. I also saw a base model XE sedan but did not get to go inside it. For $22,000 or so, it appeared to be a good value.

Even more than the new Silverado/Sierra pickups, General Motors needs the Aura to be a hit. From what I saw, I think the Aura will be quite successful. The initial reviews are good. I'm linking a review from Nctd.com The base cars currently feature a 224 horsepower version of GM's 3.5 liter "high value" engine. Although this is a pushrod engine, variable valve timing gives it power in the same league as the Ford 3.0 liter 24-valve Duratec engine. Thus, the base Aura competes directly with the higher trim line Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan. I would take the base model Aura over the Hyundai Sonata in a heartbeat. I'm going to try to testdrive an Aura soon, and I'll report on what I find.

As a side note, I want to point out that the 2007 Pontiac G6 gets most of the key hardware featured on the Saturn Aura. The G6 GTP gets the 3.6 liter engine and the 6-speed automatic transmission. The 224 horsepower 3.5 liter engine replaces the 200 HP version from last year. Although the G6 initially sold poorly despite hype from the Oprah giveaway, sales have steadily improved. It helps that Pontiac filled out the model line with a 2.4 liter 4-cylinder model, a 2-door coupe and a convertible. There have also been improvements to what was initially a hit and miss interior.


Another interesting car at the fair was the Saturn Vue Greenline. The Greenline is a mild hybrid. This is the first passenger car application of the Belt Alternator Starter (BAS) system, a mild hybrid system that is geared to deliver more bang for the buck compared to other systems out there even if it doesn't deliver Prius-like gas mileage. At 32 mpg , the Vue Greenline beats the Ford Escape hybrid in highway mileage. Its $22k sticker beats every hybrid that I've seen. The Vue Greenline on display was nothing to write home about on the inside. It looked like a Vue with one extra read-out on the instrument panel. Personally, if I get a hybrid, I want a fancy television display like the Prius.

The other brand new GM model that I checked out was the compact Chevrolet Aveo sedan. This is based on the Daewoo Kalos and is built in Korea. At 37 mpg highway, the Aveo gives Chevy dealers something to fight new cars like the Nissan Versa and the Honda Fit. Chevrolet-badged Daewoos are taking Europe and most of the world by storm. GM's firesale purchase of cash-strapped Daewoo has turned out to bee the smartest financial move of the Wagoner era.

Overall, the General put on a good show at the fair. It's clear that GM is making improvements. Ultimately time will tell whether the improvements will come in time to save the company.