Good news and I made sure that I voted for the AURA in their poll

 

Aura interior is a lot nicer that the Camry's too.

My girlfriend just got a 2007 Saturn Aura and loves it. She has been a long time Honda fan/owner and when I met her was one of those people that said they would never buy an American car. She didn't cross shop the Camry (she felt it was for old people) but she did shop it against the Accord and the Aura won in in almost ever aspect.

I'll have a full review coming after I've had some road time with it.

 

Humm…I thought there was supposed to be some grand conspiracy among all automotive journalists and every publication on the planet against all things domestic in general and against GM in particular???

I can’t help but wonder how such an article as this ever saw the light of day?

 

Who would have thought, a Saturn beating out a Toyota. They got my vote in the poll as well, and it appears the Aura is the favorite right now.

 

Yes, but don't forget that much of the buying public thinks Saturn is an import.

 

Yeah that must be it…AutoWeek mistakenly assumed they were comparing two import cars!

 

ohh there is still alot of clouds in the sky before the sun lets in. this is just one little sliver of light. 20+ years of it its gotta start cracking.

The thing is this car can compete with the rest..a Saturn to boot. Not a Chevy or a Pontiac a Saturn..And yes alot of people hold Saturn as GM's little "toyota" quality devision.
But the flip side as noted here in this forum and others:
Funny how there were recalls on the Honda and Toyota and not minor ones either yet no one heard of them on the news or in papers. Just little blurbs that get passed by.

 

It is good to know a magazine is capable of not bashing GM for a few minutes....However, I get the feeling they are about to start talking in 3rd person about how all the other mags are bashing American companies...

 

The sad thing is most people really do seem to think this.

 

I think there is and one could agrue that Autoweek is less like C&D or MT in that they are likely to be more fair.
I think another point that must be made is this new Camry isn't as far up on the competition as the ones prior. Its nice and does all the right things well but it seems more boring and the styling is a bit more polarizing. It will still sell on its name alone but the wow and aww factor associated with past Camry's isn't there for this one.
Has the competition picked up their game, Saturn, or has the Camry come back to earth?

 

Perhaps.

However, I would be willing to bet a sizable amount that the next time AutoWeek says something bad about a GM vehicle, especially in comparrison to an import, the cry of conspriacy and bias would be sounded loud and clear - there are more than a few who would rather cry "bias" than acknowldege that the magazine in question might actually be right.

 

well the diffrence is when a RSX wins for its cupholder placement?
Or materials used are the same across the board yet the domestic car gets ragged on. I think this was done in a fair write up. The car is what it is and they say it. Now if CnD come in and say the materials are not as good as the Toyota? or this or that?? there are writers out there that bend down and kiss the n#ts of their favorite car. There is media bias rampant around the auto industry. But its nice to see someone actually do an unbiased article.

 

I must say, I really like the looks of the Aura

 

I dont think the bias is all unfounded within the automotive media as far as mainstream mid sized people movers go . Spend a day in a 07 Camry or Accord then spend a day in a 07 Malibu , 07 Grand Prix , 07 Lacrosse ect . Looks aside , because everyone has their tastes ....youd be hard pressed to honestly say the imports didnt deserve all the credit they recieve . Even GM I think gets that ....~or they wouldnt be continually trying to benchmark them . The difference with GM now , is it looks like they finally get it . The new Malibu should do quiete well too ....the GM biased media that Ive seen has seemed to be glowing with compliements .

Kinda funny how the press doesnt seem to "GM bash" when they deliver a car that actually is as good or better than an Accord or Camry . I have seen the new Camry badmouthed in other auto publications , so maybe their just biased against cars that really dont measure up .