Saturn Astra Debuts This Week in Chicago

Its fairly attractive and a good replacement for the Ion. Saturn Astra? The name "Astra" is already taken by Opel. Glancing through the artical a "Opel CDTI diesel" was mentioned. Now that has my interest.

That would be because the the Astra is both Opel and Saturn. Designed and built by Opel, the 1st gen will be rebadged, retuned and sent from Opel to the US. I think it's a great replacement for the tired ION. Wonder if they'll have a red line version?

marx404

I dont think I was understood... The Opel GT and Saturn Sky are nearly=20 the same but definitely not in name. You cant call a Buick Lesabre a=20 Bonneville just because they share the same platform. The car pictured=20 in the article is a Opel (see badge) See the same badge here:

"that" is not the Sky. The article also mentions the 1.8-liter Ecotec: "1.8-liter Ecotec four-cylinder gas runner that generates 138 horsepower=20 (SAE) in Europe, but will, according to head of GM Powertrain Europe=20 Roger Johansson, produce more horses once it arrives on our shores"

Of course it will produce more HP because we dont use that Family of=20 Ecotecs here. We use the larger ones with timing chains. I think the=20 person that wrote this artical is somewhat clueless.=20

Heres another example:=20 "GM Europe?s real bread-and-butter all-star and the number two selling=20 compact range of cars in Western Europe ? continues the Opels-into- Saturns-into-Opels deal begun earlier this year with the Saturn Sky=20 (Opel GT), the Vue (Opel Antara), and Aura (Opel Vectra)."

Hmm and here I thought it began with the L-Series.

I done a little research and I am coming up with the name "Evoke" which=20 will likely be Saturns name for what is known as the "Delta" Platform.=20 And will there be a Redline version? It is very likely.=20