Saturn’s S-Series replacement, the 2003 Ion, nearly became General Motors most important new car. It was the first built on what was to be a global small-car platform named Delta. But GM scrubbed the global Delta plans, reducing Ion’s importance to providing a hint at Chevy’s Cavalier replacement. Still, this was a watershed car for Saturn. the name was its second, after the Vue, to eschew alpha-numeric nomenclature. The Ion retained some features of the aged S-series: polymer body panels, the world’s friendliest and least pushy sales organization, and more than two doors for the coupe variant. while the SC had one extended cab pickup style rear access door, the Ion quad Coupe had two. The instrument panel appeared to be a remnant of the global platform plans: it was on the center of the dash, making the assembly of left-and right hand drive versions easy.
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