Jill Ciminillo from the Chicago Sun Times: The exterior lines of the Astra are very sleek and smooth, both in the five-door and three-door models. I liked the bold Saturn grille, but it's the taillights that seal the deal. As another journalist passed me in the fast lane, I had a moment to ponder the (cough) Astra, and it was stunning.

General Motors today announced new reduced rate 4.9% APR financing on select Saturns, and rates as low as 0% APR for up to 60 months on other select new GM cars and trucks. The reduced rate financing is available to qualified buyers today through January 5, 2009 on many 2008 and select 2009 model year vehicles.

David Chao for Canada's Surrey Now: In general, cars designed in Europe and modified for North American consumption don't survive the transition very well. That's both unfortunate and fortunate, because the vehicles often lose a lot of what makes them exciting, but gain improved bumpers and other equipment to meet our stricter safety and emissions requirements.

Myles Kornblatt from TopSpeed: We are getting to the year end so we will be presenting plenty of lists of our top ten favorites. To start it off, we're presenting TopSpeed's Top Ten New Cars for 2008. Here are the rules... the car must be new or significantly improved this year, they must be manufacture's car not tuner cars, and all cars must be available for sale in the U.S.

Jim McCraw from Popular Mechanics: It didn't start out this way, but the low-price, no-haggle Saturn division of General Motors has effectively become the American sales arm of GM's German Opel division. Saturn already sells a version of Opel's GT roadster as the Saturn Sky, and a version of the Opel Antera crossover as the Saturn Vue. The latest fruit of this collaboration is the Saturn Astra family of three-door and five-door hatchbacks.

Don Hammonds from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Saturn, which arguably has the newest portfolio of vehicles on the market, is concentrating mainly on refinements and enhancements for 2009. Its lineup is one of the more attractive ones out there, with cool styling, decent fuel economy and general feel of class all across the board. Here's what you'll see when you visit your local Saturn dealer.

SaturnFans.com has learned from several reliable sources that Saturn will discontinue its Vehicle Exchange Program (VEP) on December 31, 2008 in an effort to cut costs and help create a more profitable business model for the company in the future. The program will reportedly continue to be offered on new Saturn vehicles sold and delivered through the end of the month.

Looking for the perfect gift for that special Saturn fan in your life? Look no further than SaturnCollection.com, where you can "rethink fashion" and find diverse and unique mix of products for every Saturn enthusiast on your shopping list. The Saturn-backed website features officially licensed gear including athletic apparel, eco-friendly merchandise made of environmentally friendly materials, premium wear products, along with an assortment of vehicle-specific items.

Consumers attending the Tampa Bay International Auto Show Friday-Sunday, November 7-9 will have a unique opportunity to truly 'experience' the GM display by getting behind the wheel and test driving many of the General Motors' new, fuel-efficient vehicles.

If you're in the market for a new Saturn Astra, but you are disappointed that you can't equip the sleek compact hatchback with an XM satellite radio receiver, Saturn has some news for you. You can now receive "great savings" from Saturn on XM radio when you buy or lease a new Astra.