2010 Saturn Aura

The 2010 Saturn Aura should retain the current car’s basic underskin design, though much hardware will be new and/or improved. Rear-seat side airbags are a possible new safety option. No radical changes loom for power trains, either, though the dated 3.5-liter pushrod V6 will likely be retired, while tweaks should extract somewhat more muscle from today’s twincam 3.6-liter V6 and 2.4-liter “Ecotec” four-cylinder. There’s talk the Aura Green Line will become a “strong hybrid” by switching to GM’s new Two-Mode drive that allows running solely on electricity up to around 30 mph, though this probably won’t happen before 2011 at the earliest. A plug-in hybrid option is also possible, depending on how soon GM partners can deliver the required lithium-ion batteries.


The Aura came to market fairly late in its Euro parent’s life cycle, so the early E2 redesign could prove a fortuitously timed sales booster for what is already a very appealing Honda Accord/Toyota Camry alternative. European sources expect their new Insignia to be a much sportier drive than the outgoing Vectra, and we hope that’s true for the 2010 Saturn Aura. That would certainly fit well with the Euro-flavored products that GM is counting on to expand Saturn’s presence in the automotive firmament.