Check out the 2008 Saturn Astra at the 2007 Chicago Auto Show...
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00:00 [music]
00:07 Saturn has transformed itself over the last year, first with the Sky Sports car,
00:11 and then the Aura and Outlook, now a new view, and finally this, the Saturn Astra,
00:16 which replaces the kind of also-ran Ion small car.
00:20 The updated Astra showed up at the Bologna Auto Show a few months ago.
00:24 Now here at Chicago, we get the Saturn version.
00:27 This is a Vauxhall and an Opel in Europe.
00:30 It's a small car that's received a lot of accolades and is considered a major contender,
00:35 a competitor for the Volkswagen Golf and for all other small cars in that category in Europe.
00:41 The Astra will come here with just one engine, a 1.8-liter twin-cam iron block four-cylinder engine
00:46 that makes 140 horsepower.
00:49 Of course, everybody wants to know, will there be an Astra redline?
00:53 Saturn is saying it's not sure about that, and they're still evaluating this car,
00:57 and then they'll decide later.
00:59 But for now, the Astra comes to the States as a little bit of a more upscale small car,
01:04 a level up, if you will, from the Chevy Cobalt, for example.
01:08 It'll be optional, all-leather seats, and when you order leather in this car,
01:12 you get leather seats front and rear, which is kind of unusual in this segment.
01:16 Now by bringing the Astra over, the Saturn really becomes General Motors' European brand
01:20 here in the United States.
01:22 The Astra will be sold in three- and five-door hatchback versions
01:26 and offers a very obviously European sort of style to it, very tailored and strong-shouldered.
01:32 It also comes with standard European safety that includes electronic stability control, ABS,
01:38 and six airbags.
01:40 The only way to tell the Saturn Astra from an Opel or Vauxhall Astra is the grille.
01:45 Of course, it has the Saturn-style split grille with the new Saturn emblem.
01:51 This is the Astra five-door hatchback.
01:53 I actually drove an earlier version of the Opel Astra hatchback in Europe a couple of years ago,
02:00 and I can tell you that it's going to be a much better car than the Ion.
02:03 So the Astra comes to the United States in the fall and replaces the Ion,
02:07 which is the last of the Saturns to have plastic body panels.
02:10 From now on, they're all steel body panels, and the oldest car in the lineup will be the two-seat Sky Roadster.
02:16 [music]