The Saturn S-Series compact sedan, coupe, and wagon defined the brand, and served as its only products for nearly a decade. They were fuel-efficient and reliable, and had innovative rust-free plastic body panels, but they fell behind the competition when they saw only cosmetic changes from 1991 to 2002.
- The Saturn S-Series compact sedan, coupe, and wagon defined the brand, and served as its only products for nearly a decade. They were fuel-efficient and reliable, and had innovative rust-free plastic body panels, but they fell behind the competition when they saw only cosmetic changes from 1991 to 2002.
- Saturn's second product, the L-Series midsize sedan and wagon, was introduced in 2000 to keep Saturn loyalists from going to another brand if they needed a bigger car. However, its reliability was not as bulletproof as the smaller car's and it did not distinguish itself against the competition. It never sold especially well and was dropped after 2005.
- The third Saturn, the 2002 Vue compact SUV, also included the traditional plastic body panels but, like the L-Series, did not distinguish itself on the quality front. As the first General Motors compact car-based "crossover" SUV, it sold well enough to be the only Saturn product to last more than one generation.
- The Ion, which replaced the S-Series as Saturn's core product in 2003, could be called a turning point for the brand -- for the worse. The S-Series was outdated, but it was solid basic transportation; the Ion's quirky styling inside and out and its fuel economy drop of four miles per gallon over its predecessor turned many loyalists away from the brand and did not prove successful at winning replacements for them. The Ion was dropped after 2007.
- Saturn dealers had spent years asking for a minivan to keep their customers from abandoning the brand as their families grew. But by the time the Relay was introduced in 2005, the minivan was already losing ground to seven-passenger SUVs. And because the Relay was virtually identical to three other GM vans and all suffered reliability glitches, it diluted the Saturn brand. The Relay disappeared after 2007.
- The Outlook, a large crossover introduced in 2007, was far more competitive than the Relay van it replaced, but it too is very similar to three other GM products. It kept customers who wanted a seven-passenger Saturn, but did little to woo new buyers to replace the exodus that resulted from the Ion fiasco. Like the Relay and other Saturns introduced after 2003, the Outlook has metal instead of plastic body panels.
- The Aura midsize sedan won awards for its styling and driving dynamics when it was released in 2007, but its positioning as a premium midsize car didn't fit Saturn's image and it was soon overshadowed by a new version of the mechanically related Chevrolet Malibu, which served as something of an "Aura 2.0" version that also had a larger dealer network.
- Saturn tried to separate itself from plastic-bodied economy cars with the Sky, a 2-seat roadster based on the Pontiac Solstice introduced in 2007. The high-style Sky sold well for its class, but has not made a measurable impact on the brand as a whole.
- In replacing the Ion with a version of the European Opel Astra (creatively named "Saturn Astra") in 2008, Saturn completely abandoned its original market. The Astra isn't a bargain economy sedan, it's a compact hatchback with premium pretensions and pricing and no proven record for reliability. Sales have been abysmal.
- The Vue compact SUV has been the only successful new Saturn since the original 1991 S-Series, and it's competitive in its class overall despite mediocre gas mileage. The Vue was redesigned for 2008 with a premium feel but without premium pricing, a combination that lets it outsell Saturn's three passenger cars combined. However, it may suffer the Aura's fate as an upgraded Chevrolet version -- the 2010 Equinox -- comes out this summer.
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