CD Article: 2008 Saturn Astra XE four-door

[CD_Editor]

Test Drive:


The base Astra XE model has a generous list of standard features, a comfortable interior and a roomy cargo area, says Contributing Editor, Chris Chase.  But the automatic transmission can be "slow to kick down" and fuel consumption is "disappointing." Second opinion by Greg Wilson.

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[Thinking Out Loud]

The sunroof is amazing - should give the Rabbit a run for it's money in the Euro-hatch segment...

...especially when a Redline version shows up!

[MKII]

I am surprised all the reviews from the CD writers have not made mention that this is by far the best C segment vehicle GM has offered to the North American consumer.

IMO I applaud GM for taking this step at least to offer IMO a much better C segment car then whats been offered up in the past.

[2hondas]

I have seen NONE of these on the road yet...and very few Auras too.  Poor selling?

[PJungnitsch]

I have seen NONE of these on the road yet...and very few Auras too.  Poor selling?

Feb sales Astra 332, Aura 152.

Pursuit/Cobalt 4957, G6/Malibu 2357

Somebody back in GM head office has to be wondering what the point of Saturn is.

[airbalancer]

What hurts Saturn sales is the lack of dealerships ( like Subaru and Mits )
within 1/2 hour of Cobourg, there is 10 GM dealers and 1 Saturn dealer

[jcon]

What hurts Saturn sales is the lack of dealerships ( like Subaru and Mits )
within 1/2 hour of Cobourg, there is 10 GM dealers and 1 Saturn dealer

and they're horrible reputation for cheap plastic cars.

[airbalancer]

I had an APV with plastic panels, they were great, always looked clean, 

[Cord]

Somebody back in GM head office has to be wondering what the point of Saturn is.

Or wondering if rebadging Euro cars is the slam dunk that the car media and the expats said they would be?

[Demosthenes X]

^ Nobody's doubting the Astra is a better car.  But that's meaningless if GM doesn't advertise it right and make it accessible.  They've got some major hurdles to overcome with Saturn - I wonder how well the Astra would sell if it were marketed as a Chev or Pontiac, a "Cobalt Hatch" kind of thing...

[PJungnitsch]

I think they have overpriced it. Pricing is as high or higher than the Mazda3 and the Rabbit, but sit in the car and it it appears nowhere near the same quality.

From the What Car? review of the Astra in Britain:

Big discounts are available, but you will need them to offset the below-average residual values.

In other words what they are trying to sell here with a premium price is Europe's Cobalt, without the discounted pricing and big dealer network that sells it over there.

[sirAQUAMAN64]

The Astra's sales are low due to a number of availability issues currently. They'll pick up. Don't think it was ever planned to exceed ION sales, but once produced in North America I'm sure that'll be the goal.

Aura's sales are low because, well, a number of reasons but availability is not one of them. At least they have a base 4-cyl now, which is what it lacked before.

[DanYanoff]

Sales will pick up when it gets 2.0 260 HP turbo (end 2008?) or if it gets a diesel. With the former it may easily become the hottest hatch for your buck.

[carcrazy]

I think the lack of awareness (marketing) and its relatively high price (Mazda3 and Rabbit) are the offenders.

[random006]

I for one wish GM and Saturn well.  I think it's a well put together car with stylish looks and most importantly, filling a key slot in the lineup.  The hatch style car is big here and with gas prices rising I would not be at all surprised to see that segment take off in the US in a way not seen before.

The only quibble I have is that stupid display.  The uniform gray dash and the primitive display technology used reminds of 1988 and not 2008.  Put in a GPS based Navi unit with full colour and tie it in with On-Star.  Now that would be a smart package.

[tortoise]

One thing I don't like about the Astra is the narrow hatch bottom.  Seeing as a hatch is all about the versatility, I don't know why the designers were allowed to make this form of function concession.