Saturn's Honda V6 no longer

Saturn will drop Honda's 3.5 V6 engine in the Vue next year due to the fact that Saturn is now capable of its own engines and that the Vue will be redesigned in 2008.

“It was a great engine for us,” said Saturn spokesman Mike Morrisey to Automotive News. “It played a big part of the Vue's continued success as it went through its lifecycle.”

The GM-Honda engine deal was first announced in 2002 while the engine first became available in 2004. The Honda 3.5 replaced an expensive British-built 3.0-litre V6.

According to GM Powertrain spokesman Tom Read, when the Vue was being reworked to accept the Honda 3.5L, GM engineers took extra precautions to ensure that the two would match up, including the adaptation of Honda's five-speed automatic transmission so that it would work with General Motors' electrical architecture, as well as the coolant plumbing, exhaust system, power steering mechanisms and air conditioning system.

This will end any other contract from Honda to General Motors.