Saturn: 2007 Car of the Year
I had the opportunity to speak with Saturn‘s Jill Lajdziak at December’s Los Angeles Auto Show and she was expressive about the past year for Saturn and the renewal of the brand. During the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, she was definately on cloud nine after the Saturn Aura won the 2007 Car of the Year Award. Voted on by an independent panel of 49 full-time automotive journalists, Jill told me off camera the competition wasn’t even close — they won with an extremely wide margin. In this podcast I speak with Jill and share in her excitement over the win as she gives us a look at the vehicle. Afterwards, I had the chance to speak to Dave Rand, GM‘s executive director of interior design about what he thought helped the car win. He responded it was because you get more for the money. Starting around $20,000, you get stitched two-tone leather seats, two-tone gray carpeting/interior, and a trunk that is practically as big as some Manhattan apartment kitchens, among other things. Plus, this spring Saturn will introduce a hybrid version of the Aura to it’s Green Line portfolio. This is definately not the Saturn of just last year.
Reporter’s Notes: We must be making quite an impression on the large automakers with our content here on The Next Gear. So much so that GM invited us for an all expense paid trip to Detroit to cover the North American International Auto Show. While there, they wined and dined us and gave us unprecedented access to designers, high level corporate bigwigs and company spokespeople, yet with no requirement that we publish anything about them, only that we disclose this enticement. It was an opportunity we are happy to share with you, our audience. I encourage you to leave your feedback!
-Matt Kelly
Posted in:
Clean Tech, Connected Social Media, NextGear, Tech Conferences and Events, Technology
