2007 Saturn Aura Interior

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Here are some shots of the interior .
The top photos show the differences between the Concept and the production model.
All other pictures show the production car.

And it looks OK, but it still looks a bit cheap.
Look at the door panel. The plastic surrounding the window switches look like it is from a low end Korean model from 2 or 3 years ago.
Not a serious competion to the current Camry. And we haven’t seen the new Altima yet.

As a matter of fact, with that much fake wood, the whole interior has the feel of a 3 year old Korean car…

Last year, when they introduced the concept, GM was mentioning cars like the Acura TL as competition.
Let’s hope they since had a chance to do some thinking…

Conversation 14 comments

  1. to be honest it looks really close to the concept, they should have used silver finish instead of wood but huge improvement over the g6, and the malibu that its based on. i think that it is at least among the nicest interiors done by gm, i mean compare this to the impala, or even a cts for that matter. my problem with this is look at where the wood goes from the doors to the center console at how obviously mis matched they are, the gap is awful.

  2. Jeez, are you on the Jap’s payroll? First you claim the Saturn Outlook doesn’t stand a chance against the Highlander and Sante Fe, before even seeing the Outlook and sitting in it, let alone driving it. Now you trash the Aura’s interior as cheap-looking? Have you already sat in an Aura, too? The bloated looking Camry’s interior doesn’t look any better, with it’s boom-box plastics and phony-looking nacho chip-colored wood. As for the new Altima (yes, we haven’t seen it, but why don’t you praise it anyway), the interior is so cheap on the current one, from the plastic to the leather, we can only hope Nissan does a better job this time around.

  3. Hi Vince—Great website! On average I browse your blog at least once a day, usually twice or more if I’m sensing new updates. I generally agree with your comments but this one seems premature. I think you are nit picking these photos and searching for something to complain about. No—the window switches do not look like they are lifted from a Mercedes S-Class—but that doesn’t mean this interior is crap either. The impression I get from these photos is not a 2 year old Korean car. Come on…

  4. This is a pretty nice step up from existing Saturn lineup.

    The biggest problem I see is that the interior is starting to look all the same in the newer GM lineups, much like how Chrysler is replicating their cheap dash in all their new cars.

    The same old faux wood, the rectangular temp/radio modules obviously designed to fit into 10,000 other GM cars, and the same old lack of detailing.

  5. The interior has that bulging look that we’ve seen a lot from recent GM designs. I say, get rid of it. Make it smoother; that would make it look less cheap. And also, what’s with that shade of gray and all that wood trim? They should have made everything ochre-toned inside, not just the seats and doors. If they had done that, the interior would have looked better, like it came out of some exotic sports car. The question is: who is Saturn exactly trying to market to? I always thought they should compete with Scion, but apparently they disagree.

  6. whoa. a gm production interior that actually resembles the concept (unlike the g6 concept and production interiors).

    instead of the wood, i’d prefer metallic trim or that black piano finish that ford uses in the fusion. it would make the saddle-colored seats and trim stand out.

  7. The wood burl in the photos is an option. I’ve seen a black Aura with the piano black trim and dark silver accents at a photo shoot, and that interior is absolutely stunning.

  8. The exterior looks fine, but now my major gripe is with the interior …

    I like the wood as well as the leather colour, but the interior overall is a very mixed bag. The gauges are nice, but the top part of the dash looks cheap; as if it was borrowed from the Malibu. The overall centre dash layout looks a lot like the Sonata, and that’s not a good thing. The one colour of plastic makes the interior look drab, despite the wood and cool leather. Having two-tone plastic would have made a big difference. Also, as mentioned by others, that centre stack is used in virtually all new GM vehicles.

    Then of course there are the horrible trim misalignments going on. People love to hate Toyota, and on Toyota’s preproduction models, some people notice slight misalignments, which are to be expected. I too realize this is a preproduction model shown in photos, but some of the trim pieces are WAY out of misalignment. Downright embarrasing, especially considering most preproduction models are hand-built.

    GM boasted how their new interiors would be among the best, but I just don’t see it happening yet. I’d to love to give GM praise, but this interior just isn’t that great. Yes, it’s competitive, but certainly not class leading. GM’s interiors have definitely improved compared to their old offerings, but their older interiors were among the worst in the industry, so to improve upon it was not such a grand accomplishment. I can already foretell that apart from some fit and finish quibbles, GM’s new interiors will be harped on mainly because they all look the same, specifically using that exact centre stack in so many models.

    And anyone who’s interested in specs, there will be two model trims, the XE and XR, with the latter being the up level trim. Base Auras will come with (and this comes as no surprise to me) GM’s 3.5L pushrod V6 with 220HP and the ubiqious 4 speed auto, and the XR will come with GM’s 3.6L DOHC V6 with 252HP and GM’s 6 speed auto.

    The last thing is pricing: many are saying this will start in the low 20s, but you can get a Camry V6 in the low 20s. Seeing as only the uplevel XR would be reasonably competitive with the Camry, I highly doubt it would be in the low 20s. I’m predicting mid 20s pricing for the XR, and I can already tell you the Aura will lack a few standard features and high end options the Camry offers.

    With a new Altima coming this Fall, an updated Sonata coming soon, and a new Accord in a year or two, the competition will only get worse for GM.

  9. Just to add, one good thing about the exterior is LED tail lights.

    From what I’ve read so far, it appears that, surprise surprise, no Nav will be offered.

    The XE Aura may be priced competitively, but it won’t be getting the fuel economy of a 4 cyl Camry or Accord, and I’m guessing the base Aura interior will look even worse than these photos.

    The XR is the one I’m thinking will likely be overpriced. The cool leather is definitely an option, so I’m interested in seeing what a base XE and XR will look like.

  10. The interior looks horrible, a mixture of cheap and low quality leather, plastics etc… and the outside of the car looks almost like a current model Chrysler Sebring sedan. This car screams rental car in my opinion.

  11. Well, judging by the interior, and the price, it makes educated auto buyers want to go and buy an Impala SS for around the same price. The Saturn Aura lacks the importance of offering a navigational package; just like the rest of their crappy interiors on the chevrolets, and the pontiacs. The only people who will love this car will be the “auto-naive”-a college student with simple friends, or a new retiree who wanted something knew and young.
    Furthermore, for the price that they are asking for the XR, a resale consious person would running flaring there arms and legs like a drowning cat to the Honda, Toyota, certified pre-owned Acura, Lexus dealer. GM, if your reading this, it’s important that you follow these key points; Navi, leather, bigger wheels, wider exterior fascia, and detailed interior even on your based model is going to win you this stiff race.
    Lastly, I absolutly hate Ford, Lincoln, Mercury because they make all of their lines look the same with the interior fascia and very small navigational screen on the selected models. Gm is on the way to being on my hate list. Sadly, the cheap foriegn market, KIA and HYUNDIA will kill the in the cheap persons’ market if they offer “navi” in any of their models

  12. I see that your still way behind the times ….you keep saying korean car but the fact is hyundai is straight kicking your ass ….you build cheap crap cars bottom line you havent made anything worth a shit in 30 years. hyundai’s sonata is affordable gets better tru gas milage has a better warranty and esc steering .and on and on and they jusy keep getting better the 09 is even better than the previous model …dont knock the koreans they build good cars and have many vehicles with 5 star crash ratings ..what do you have ? alot of bs from tired designers …give up you suck and you lost cuz you fll asleep at the wheel ..by the by i drive a 540i sport and love it …you should check out the hyundai azerra and the new genesis blows you away…it’s reall a bmw 7 series for way cheaper ….so before you spread your opinion based on your shoe size iq do some more research before you speak !!!

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