Alex C. Mair began discussions of a “revolutionary new, small-car project codenamed Saturn  in June, 1982. In November 1983, the Saturn idea was publicized by General Motors’ Chairman Roger B. Smith and GM’s President F. James McDonald. Twelve months later, the first Saturn demonstration vehicle was revealed. On January 7, 1985, the Saturn Corporation was officially founded. Citing full disclosure, Saturn was originally founded as a private, employee-owned company, by former GM leadership. They remained private until GM bought them out, and effectively “rewrote” company history.

Saturn History

In July 1990, GM Chairman Roger Smith and UAW President Owen Bieber drove the very first Saturn off the assembly line in Spring Hill, Tennessee. The brand was marketed as a “different kind of car company”, and Saturn operated outside the GM conglomerate, with its own assembly plant in Spring Hill, unique models and a separate retailer network.

Saturn’s first compact crossover SUV was introduced for the 2002 model year as the Vue, based on a globally used GM design. For 2003, Saturn introduced the Ion as a replacement to the S-Series. For 2005, Saturn began selling the Relay, a minivan and the first Saturn based on similar models from other GM brands. That same year, the L-Series was discontinued. The Sky roadster was introduced in 2006 as a 2007 model. Also for 2007, the Aura midsize sedan made its way to dealerships, alongside the Outlook, a larger CUV than the Vue, and was the last year the Ion was produced. The Ion was replaced by the European-built Astra in 2008. During the 2008 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), Saturn revealed its Flextreme concept vehicle, which was a rebadged Opel Flextreme.

In 2011, GM reintroduced the VUE compact sport utility vehicle based on the Chevrolet Captiva platform. The resulting vehicle was called the Chevrolet Captiva Sport, though it was only sold for fleet use, and to rental car fleets. The vehicle was unchanged from the old VUE, though V6 and Hybrid engine options were unavailable Saturn History. The only change was that Chevrolet badges were placed everywhere where there once was a Saturn badge, and it was renamed Captiva. In a similar fashion, the plant that produced the Saturn Outlook was retooled to produce the redesigned 2013 GMC Acadia. Most noticeable in the rear wraparound glass and lift-gate, many Outlook parts were largely unchanged when recycled into the Acadia, only adding GMC design cues where necessary. No other Saturn models or parts have been reintroduced.

Remember that before you buy, check the history of the vehicle. You do this by typing the VIN Number Saturn below:

Source: wikipedia.org