The best small car General Motors has ever sold in North America should begin rolling out of Saturn dealerships in just over a year.
That's when Saturn plans to start selling a version of the Opel Astra, a compact model developed, styled and built in Europe, where it regularly kicks the tail of the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla in comparison tests.
An all-new version of the Astra should hit the road in Europe around the middle of 2007. Shipments to America will follow later that year, and U.S. assembly of the car should begin in 2008, probably at GM's Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant.
The Astra is a wonderful little car — stylish, comfortable and sporty. All GM has to do is not screw it up on the way across the Atlantic.
GM's last two attempts to adapt European models to American tastes failed.
The Saturn L-series was a modified version of Opel's successful Vectra midsize car. The modifications were the problem. The car got heavier, wider and blander and never met sales expectations. GM pulled the plug on the project early.
The Cadillac Catera sport sedan was a reworked Opel Omega. The Catera was not a bad car, but Cadillac wanted it to compete with hotshots like the BMW 3-series, cars that were faster and more sophisticated.
The plan for the Astra — Saturn is still mulling names for the U.S. model, including Ion and Astra — aims to learn from those mistakes. The U.S. version will look like the Opel, and it will compete with other compacts, just as it does in Europe.
It will replace Saturn's current Ion model, and it springs from the brand's collaboration with Opel, which has an 80-year heritage of building little cars that do well in the toughest segment of the European market.
Those European roots are the reason the Astra could be GM's best American small car ever. European automakers — and Opel is a true European automaker, not just GM East — expect more from their small cars than American companies.
They don't think small is synonymous with less.
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Their small cars must be practical enough to serve as a family's only vehicle. They must have high-speed stability and safety for triple-digit speeds on the autobahn and responsive handling for twisting mountain roads. They must be fuel-efficient, because the $3-a-gallon gasoline we're suffering would be a 50% price cut in most of Europe.
Combining Saturn and Opel product planning opens new doors for both brands. The Astra will be first through the door, but don't be surprised if other vehicles and technologies flow back and forth across the Atlantic, to the benefit of both brands.
