Hidden away deep inside General Motors' design studios is a top-secret SWAT team consisting of the giant's absolute brightest and best designers who take on the trickiest styling dilemmas.
The team is so secret, in fact, GM never breathes a word of its existence. One designer said GM is mum on the topic because it doesn't want anyone to know who the team members are for fear they will be stolen away by a competing design studio.
Indeed, GM, and the domestic automotive design community as a whole, has much to fear on that front, especially from the Asians. The most blatant raiding of GM came recently by South Korea's Kia when it nabbed a widely respected, longtime GM designer for its California studios. (Not that GM isn't culpable; it stole Chrysler PT Cruiser designer Bryan Nesbitt away from crosstown rival Chrysler, and he now heads GM's European studios.)
While the artists' names will remain anonymous to protect the talented from being stolen, their handiwork is being revealed at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Just peek inside the Saturn Sky roadster and Saturn Aura midsize sedan for a glimpse of their portfolio.
The SWAT team was recruited to help simultaneously attack two longtime problems: GM's interiors and Saturn.
GM has long and loudly been criticized for lousy interiors — bland designs, cheap materials, etc. from Chevy Cavaliers to Cadillac luxury cars. At the same time, Saturn has been accused of not giving a darn about its cars — how they look or how they perform — instead focusing on absolutely first-rate customer pampering.
GM gave the first glimpse of the future Saturns at a very hush-hush backgrounder last summer at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. The crowd, simply put, was wowed. Normally cynical journalists, who nonchalantly attended the briefing not expecting much, were blown away. To begin with, Saturn is moving upscale — above Chevrolet and even Pontiac — to the slot where Oldsmobile once was.
The Saturn Sky is a drop-dead gorgeous, under-$25,000 roadster that goes into production in 2006. Saturn says its stunning looks send a message about the company's future styling scheme, which will be more European in flavor. The Sky was inspired by the Vauxhall VX Lightning concept, created by GM's advanced design studio in Birmingham, England. It rides on the same Kappa architecture as the Pontiac Solstice roadster and shares its four-cylinder engine.
As sexy as the exterior is, the interior is equally impressive, with extensive use of a black finish — like on a piano's black keys — touches of chrome and grains that give it a high-tech look.
The midsize Aura sedan isn't as stop-them-in-their-tracks good-looking, but is extremely handsome — probably the best of GM's midsize sedan — with a European flair. (It rides on the long-wheelbase version of the Epsilon architecture used for the Chevy Malibu, Opel Vectra and Saab 9-3.) More impressive, however, is an interior that's unlike anything on the market. It features a textured "Rustica" leather used on the seats as well as door inserts, shift knob and steering wheel, not seen in any vehicle in the U.S. currently. It is intended to resemble the leather used on expensive furniture and certainly yields a classy, expensive look. Other touches are the titanium-finished look for knobs and buttons and orange ring encircling the three gauges.
The new Saturns send two messages about GM: There may be a future for Saturn after all, something that had very much been in doubt, and there are signs of life in GM's design studios, including the ones doing interiors.
The team is so secret, in fact, GM never breathes a word of its existence. One designer said GM is mum on the topic because it doesn't want anyone to know who the team members are for fear they will be stolen away by a competing design studio.
Indeed, GM, and the domestic automotive design community as a whole, has much to fear on that front, especially from the Asians. The most blatant raiding of GM came recently by South Korea's Kia when it nabbed a widely respected, longtime GM designer for its California studios. (Not that GM isn't culpable; it stole Chrysler PT Cruiser designer Bryan Nesbitt away from crosstown rival Chrysler, and he now heads GM's European studios.)
While the artists' names will remain anonymous to protect the talented from being stolen, their handiwork is being revealed at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Just peek inside the Saturn Sky roadster and Saturn Aura midsize sedan for a glimpse of their portfolio.
The SWAT team was recruited to help simultaneously attack two longtime problems: GM's interiors and Saturn.
GM has long and loudly been criticized for lousy interiors — bland designs, cheap materials, etc. from Chevy Cavaliers to Cadillac luxury cars. At the same time, Saturn has been accused of not giving a darn about its cars — how they look or how they perform — instead focusing on absolutely first-rate customer pampering.
GM gave the first glimpse of the future Saturns at a very hush-hush backgrounder last summer at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. The crowd, simply put, was wowed. Normally cynical journalists, who nonchalantly attended the briefing not expecting much, were blown away. To begin with, Saturn is moving upscale — above Chevrolet and even Pontiac — to the slot where Oldsmobile once was.
The Saturn Sky is a drop-dead gorgeous, under-$25,000 roadster that goes into production in 2006. Saturn says its stunning looks send a message about the company's future styling scheme, which will be more European in flavor. The Sky was inspired by the Vauxhall VX Lightning concept, created by GM's advanced design studio in Birmingham, England. It rides on the same Kappa architecture as the Pontiac Solstice roadster and shares its four-cylinder engine.
As sexy as the exterior is, the interior is equally impressive, with extensive use of a black finish — like on a piano's black keys — touches of chrome and grains that give it a high-tech look.
The midsize Aura sedan isn't as stop-them-in-their-tracks good-looking, but is extremely handsome — probably the best of GM's midsize sedan — with a European flair. (It rides on the long-wheelbase version of the Epsilon architecture used for the Chevy Malibu, Opel Vectra and Saab 9-3.) More impressive, however, is an interior that's unlike anything on the market. It features a textured "Rustica" leather used on the seats as well as door inserts, shift knob and steering wheel, not seen in any vehicle in the U.S. currently. It is intended to resemble the leather used on expensive furniture and certainly yields a classy, expensive look. Other touches are the titanium-finished look for knobs and buttons and orange ring encircling the three gauges.
The new Saturns send two messages about GM: There may be a future for Saturn after all, something that had very much been in doubt, and there are signs of life in GM's design studios, including the ones doing interiors.
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