Saturn Aura claims Car of the Year prize at 2009 Detroit Auto Show

General Motors must be breathing a huge sigh of relief this morning as their Chevrolet Silverado and Saturn Aura won the North American Car and Truck of the year awards on the opening day of the Detroit International Auto Show.

Many observers had expected the Saturn Aura to claim a significant portion of the Car or the Year awards given out annually, but it had faced stiff competition from the other 2 finalists in the segment, the Honda Fit and Toyota Camry.

The Saturn Aura was one of the vehicles GM had touted as signs that the automaker had turned the corner on its reorganization of the product line up. The vehicle is based on a European platform shared with GM’s European, Opel division.