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A brand-new member of the Saturn family has hit the streets. Saturn calls its new Relay a "family utility vehicle," and it plays this role well.

Product-starved Saturn is expanding its lineup with its first minivan, which is also its first 7-passenger vehicle. The handsome Relay is basically an improved version of the 1997-2004 General Motors minivan with an SUV-style front end. It has the same basic design as the larger, updated and refined new Chevrolet Uplander, Buick Terraza and Pontiac Montana SV6.

The vehicle we're steering through this icy onslaught comes with a sophisticated traction device designed to keep all of the wheels rolling as the vehicle moves forward on a steady and safe track.

Saturn's new mid-size van, the 2005 Relay, not only will offer General Motors import fighting brand its first minivan, but also represents yet another sign that it is changing direction.

Saturn's first-ever minivan would be significant news -- if it weren't such a dead-ringer for Chevrolet's and Pontiac's "new" minivans, which are basically face-lifted versions of their old minivans.

Saturn started off as very much its own entity. Conceived at a time when many people were turning away from domestics, it was kept so separate from its parent company that some buyers didn't even realize it was a General Motors product. But it's mostly just another GM division now and so gets the new-for-2005 Relay.