HAS SATURN FINALLY HIT ITS TARGET? Aura holds promise to compete.(News)

Byline: KEVIN A. WILSON

When founded as a subsidiary (not a division) of General Motors in 1985, Saturn's aim was to match Honda and Toyota. From the time it started selling cars in 1990, it never measured up on the product side, though its fresh-approach dealer network captured a vital segment of buyers who had sworn off ever again stepping into a Chevy or any other GM store. Saturn engendered loyalty all out of proportion to the objective merit of its cars.

Now Saturn is in the midst of a product turnaround that promises to match or exceed the Cadillac revival for setting things right. This month it is rolling out the Vue Green Line hybrid; we'll drive the Sky Red Line soon; the Outlook crossover is coming up; and the core product-a mainstream front-drive family sedan-finally merits comparison with the competition.

That's right. Our experience with a prototype Aura sedan suggests if it's not a bull's-eye centered directly on the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, it is darned close. When we asked each of the first three passengers invited into the Aura what they thought the car was, they all said, "Acura?'' They had, perhaps, misread the name embroidered on the floormats, but they also hadn't seen anything that said, "Nope, not an Acura.'' From the embossed "Moroccan brown'' leather to the cast-skin dash top to the console-mounted shifter, most everything the eye sees and the finger touches appears up to snuff.

Though the design resembles the Opel Vectra, when we parked the Aura near a 2005 Accord sedan, the similarity to the Honda design approach was evident. Mind you, that means it isn't quite as sporty-looking as the Aura concept car that toured the show circuit early this year-it lacks the concept's oversize wheels, aggressive fender flares and side skirts. Perhaps we'll find that mean stance in a Red Line version?

The Aura is a handsome car, clean with a bit of jewelry to declare this isn't the plain-Jane basic transportation that was Saturn's forte. But Aura really surpasses expectations inside the cabin. This was a worry. Built on the same platform as the Saab 9-3 and Pontiac G6, the Aura also shares underpinnings with the Chevy Malibu, a competent car that needed a hurry-up interior redo and could still stand upgrades.

"Our aim was to take everything we know about this architecture, keep everything that's right, and learn from everything that's not,'' says Saturn general manager Jill Lajdziak. In large measure, it appears the design and engineering teams have made the right choices.