When the Oldsmobile Aurora was unveiled in May of '94, it faced a formidablemission: To revive the moribund image and slumping sales performance of the Olds
division--General Motors' weakest-performing division.
The knock on Olds at the time was that it was slow to react to changing tastes in
luxury-line styling and sporty performance--the kind of sporty performance and styling
offered by Mercedes, BMW, Lexus and Infiniti.
But the Aurora proved to be equal to its mission. Equipped with a modified version
of the front-drive Northstar powertrain that gave more oomph to GM's new generation of
Cadillacs--with maneuverability and responsiveness to match--the Aurora came out of the
blocks with a full head of steam.
When the 1995 model year tally was completed, Olds had sold 26,544 Auroras, and
buyers were lining up for more.
Adhering to the old axiom that warns against fixing something that ain't broke--er,