Seeking Out a Unique Niche in a Big SUV Pie
With its slick ad campaign and 'customer-first' service approach, Saturn burst onto the North American auto scene back in the 1990s with a coupe and a dream.
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| With slick advertising, a focus on customer satisfaction and a list of money saving features, Saturn quickly found a niche in the North American Market. (Photo: General Motors) |
Featuring some pretty nifty high-tech, and money saving concepts -- such as the use of polymer body panels and spaceframe body construction -- the GM subsidiary quickly found a niche in the super-competitive North American marketplace.
Move ahead to 2003, and the company has a full line of cars, including a sport utility vehicle, the VUE, in its second year of production.
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| With the success of their cars, in 2003 Saturn turned their focus to the very popular and lucrative economy SUV market and released the VUE. (Photo: General Motors) |
Building an SUV was a no-brainer for the upstart brand, as the insatiable appetite by North Americans for the truck-like vehicles sees no sign of slowing, and in fact, economy SUVs are probably the biggest growing segment.
For 2003, the VUE comes in four trim levels: FWD4; AWD4; FWDV6; and AWDV6. Pretty explanatory just from the names of each model, the 2003 VUE is available as either a front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive model, and with a choice of a 2.2-liter four-banger, or a 3.0-liter V6.