Want to know what the 2008 Saturn Vue is going to look like? Then take a look at the Opel Antara. Saturn is beginning to adopt designs pulled directly from Opel's studios and this Antara will be one of them. It was introduced for the first time this morning and although it doesn't look quite as striking as the Antara GTC concept shown last year it's not bad for an SUV.
GM kept the shtick level low with nothing more than a short intro video and some words by Euro design chief Bryan Nesbitt of PT Cruiser fame. The most riveting aspect of the press conference came when Nesbitt lost place among his huge handful of index cards and stood in silence with little to say. He was no doubt hugely embarrassed, but we couldn't help but think he would have done much better if GM simply told him to go up and talk about the design of the Antara. Instead, they hand him a full deck of cards chock full of corporate jargon and tell him to make it sizzle. Kind of makes you wonder if that's how the cars get designed at GM too.
tncarman says:
07:15 PM, 09/28/06
I kinda like it. if saturn changes the back end a bit id like ti more, but it will deffinetly sell imo. I already see alot of vues, and a better on elike this would be just what Saturn needs
gmguy111 says:
09:21 PM, 09/28/06
its ok but the back end needs to be changed if saturn plays it right strategically using its saturn vue the outlook that will be out in a few years and possibly this SUV then they might make more profit in this tough segment then they do now
billt9 says:
09:55 PM, 09/28/06
The stance of that top picture makes it looks like a poorly designed Chinese car.
Nothing close to the styling of the Antara GTC.
This looks like a body kit on an old SUV design.
jalfa312 says:
12:22 PM, 09/29/06
Argh. Why can't we just rebadge the better looking and mechanically-identical Chevrolet Captiva as the next VUE? would that be so hard?
balkanboy1 says:
05:53 PM, 10/ 1/06
Saturns Outlook has better presence even though both efforts are from book of generic SUV design. They should of built original Antara concept with 2 or 4 door.
escape15208 says:
05:54 AM, 10/ 3/06
Wow, the corss breeding of thew Suzuki SX4 and a '99 ML320, both of which have a more cohesive design language than this - and why is everyone afraid to give a rear passengers a decent amount of glass? I see lot of Toyota Matrix in the side glass profile. It's all too bad, this was a promising concept.
Again, "complete coverage" and no interior photo. Don't they have a leggy "spokes model to open the dorrs on these things?
xcon says:
06:35 AM, 10/ 4/06
Everything seems nice about it, except the hideous front end. Yuck,
orbit9090 says:
09:20 AM, 10/17/06
Comfortably shy of "ugly", but also a bit short of "exciting", the Opel Antara will slide nicely into the small-SUV market in the USA when sold as the 2008 Saturn VUE.
The vehicle will also have an advantage of available V6 power and GM purchase incentives over the 2007 Honda CR-V, which, by the way, has a far less attractive front end.
The rear-end is cute, but the fish-gill side vents need to go.
jeanmomo says:
02:56 AM, 07/28/08
Did you ever notice that this opel antara is almost the twin of the chevrolet captiva, really amazing, check this video http://www.carchannel.be/nl/artikel/chevrolet/opel-antara-versus-chevrolet-captiva .