Savvy Shopping: Wheels and Deals

Rogue is second best seller for Nissan so far

Nissan's Rogue debuted in October as the company's first attempt at the compact SUV market. After its first full month on sale in the U.S., the Rogue racked up sales for Nissan that trail only the popular Altima sedan and coupe in Nissan's lineup, Cars.com reports. This means Nissan has early evidence that it didn't make a mistake trying to compete with the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 in the compact SUV segment. For more information about the Rogue, check Cars.com.

Saturn tweaks Vue airbags

Crash tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety are so important to gaining sales that automakers will tweak an existing design to get a top rating, Cars.com comments. That's exactly what Saturn did after its new Vue SUV earned just an Average rating - the second-best - in side-impact crash tests conducted by IIHS. To get a top rating of Good, Saturn redesigned its side curtain airbags to protect the heads of rear passengers. After the change, it passed a subsequent test. Interestingly enough, in the original test there were no injuries even though the airbags didn't deploy accurately enough. The redesigned airbags will be installed in all Vues produced after December 2007, or from January 2008 on. You can find the build date of a Saturn Vue on a sticker on the driver's door jam, near the tire ratings. Dealers should also be able to find the build date on the vehicle's invoice. With these changes, the 2008 Saturn Vue gets the IIHS' highest honor as a Top Safety Pick.

Send questions, comments and suggestions regarding this section to Angelo Gentile, Cars Editor, Specialty Publications Group, 612-673-4740, agentile@startribune.com.