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GREENVILLE, S.C. — He who hesitates is lost, and the company that procrastinates is Saturn.

A dozen years after it began selling compact cars, Saturn offers a compact sport-utility vehicle called VUE.

In the time spent waiting for Saturn to offer an SUV, Toyota has brought out two generations of its RAV4, Honda two generations of its CR-V, Jeep a modernized successor to its Cherokee icon called Liberty and Ford an all-new Escape.

What took Saturn so long?

General Motors management misread the market. Rather than give Saturn a sport-utility to take advantage of their popularity, it opted to give Saturn a midsize sedan for 2000 to go along with its compact S-Series lineup.

“Three years ago when everyone wanted an SUV, we were working on bringing out the midsize L sedan. I’ll take the blame,” said Rick Wagoner, GM president and chief executive.

“We haven’t made a lot of money at Saturn but when you only play in the small-vehicle segment, it’s tough to make money,” Wagoner said as the reason to add a midsize sedan.

“To dig out from a hole, you need the right products, fresh products, a broader lineup and niche vehicles because niche is where you make money. We need incremental sales with VUE. If three-fourths of the sales result in fewer sales of the S and L, we won’t win anything,” he said.

Saturn adds its first sport-ute ’02. And Ron Zarrella, before stepping down as president of North American automotive operations, promised the lineup will expand even more (Cars, Nov. 8) with a bigger sport-ute for ’04 and perhaps a truck in the not too distant future.

A year ago a Saturn VUE show car debuted on the auto-show circuit, a rather plain, dull, bland machine. But that was a pre-production model tossed on a turntable to let folks know an SUV was coming.

The production model is a welcome surprise. The polymer plastic-body panels shine like sheet metal but won’t rust and are designed to survive minor parking-lot dents or dings. A wash eliminates age spots. VUE would stand out even more in yellow, a color coming in spring.

VUE comes with dark gray lower body, wheel-well and bumper cladding “for the rugged look of an SUV.” Remove the cladding and go with a chrome bumper, and rugged would give way to regal.

Despite its compact size, VUE looks bigger than the posted dimensions inside and out.

VUE is offered in front- or all-wheel-drive versions and with a choice of 2.2-liter, 143-h.p. 4-cylinder with 5-speed manual or a new continuously variable transmission with an infinite number of gears. Saturn calls it a “smart” transmission. There’s also a 3-liter, 181-h.p. V-6 with 5-speed automatic only.

We tested VUE in FWD and AWD, and with 4-cylinder with CVT and V-6 with automatic. The favorite was the 4-cylinder with CVT, which Saturn calls VTI for Variable Transmission with Intelligence. We’ll stick with CVT.

A “Cliff’s Notes” explanation of CVT is that it’s a miracle. A large pliable metal belt that looks like a huge silver necklace rides on two pulleys. The radius of the necklace on the pulleys changes from wide to narrow or narrow to wide to shift gears. It does so on its own with no “shift shock.” It changes gears based on such factors as how hard you press the accelerator or whether traveling up or down an incline. We found shifting is so smooth and silent, especially on steep grades, that no doubt some will return to the dealer to complain, “It ain’t shifting out of first.”

The 2.2-liter 4 has enough kick to move you from the light or into the passing lane without having to take a deep breath. The CVT is so quiet and smooth, it makes the 4 feel like it has more muscle than advertised.

After moving out of an AWD 4-cylinder with CVT into an AWD V-6 with 5-speed automatic, the 4-cylinder seemed considerably quieter than the V-6. Typically when offered a choice of 4 versus V-6, you opt for the 4 for mil e, the V-6 for power and quiet. While the V-6 is a little more lively and alert and gets to the top of the hill quicker than the 4, it would be easy to justify the 4 with CVT over the V-6 with 5-speed automatic that costs up to $5,000 more.

The V-6 gets the nod for those who tow, because it will pull a maximum of 2,500 pounds to only 1,500 pounds for the 4-cylinder.

The mileage rating is 21 m.p.g. city/26 m.p.g. highway in an AWD VUE with 4-cylinder/CVT versus 19/26 with the V-6 and 5-speed automatic.

Only question about the CVT is whether folks will buy new technology in a first-year vehicle or opt for the V-6 with traditional automatic.

Ride is pleasant and more soft than firm. Speed-sensitive electronic power steering reacts well to wheel input. VUE has car-like nimble handling for a compact SUV. You take corners without leaning on the door panels. Wide-footprint, 16-inch radial tires help.

VUE seats five, and all except the driver’s seat flip and fold for more cargo/storage room. Even the front passenger seat back flips so you can slip a ladder inside. Yes, VUE borrowed the folding passenger seat from the Chrysler PT Cruiser.

VUE has wide-opening doors and low step-in height for easy entry/exit; a trio of power plugs; a spare tire housed inside under the flat cargo floor not under the vehicle or bolted to the hatchlid; juice-box holders in the rear doors; eyeglass holder in the dash; nets to hold items in compartments built into the doors; dual rear console cupholders; a pen/pencil holder in the console adjacent to dual cupholders, a second-row seat big enough to hold three child safety seats; and a plastic pop-up/foldaway container in the cargo floor to keep items from being tossed about while motoring.

But the piece de resistance is that Saturn goes cupholders one better with a large indented plastic holder built into each side of the cargo floor to hold a gallon milk jug to keep it off the cloth seats and stop it from bouncing around. As a bonus, the washable, plastic jug holders also can be used for dripping swimsuits or diapers.

One irritant: The window visor can’t be lowered and placed against the windshield glass because the roofliner blocks it. Saturn promises a fix.

Saturn prices: $16,325 for the base FWD model with 4-cylinder and manual; $17,265 with automatic; $18,860 for AWD with CVT; and $22,575 for AWD with V-6 and automatic.

Add $1,360 for the optional power package (standard on the AWD V-6 model) with power mirrors/windows/locks, auto dimming mirror with temperature and compass display, cruise control and map lights.

Stand-alone options include anti-lock brakes at $575, ABS with traction control (FWD models only) at $595, head-curtain air bags at $395, power sunroof at $725, floormats at $70, and a variety of sound system updates ranging from $290 to $790 depending on CD player and number of discs it will play. Power leather seats will be a dded as an option for ’03.

VUE is the first in a string of changes at Saturn. The Ion sedan replaces the S sedan next fall for ’03, the Ion coupe replaces the S coupe in the first quarter ’03 as an ’04 model, and the midsize sport-ute off the VUE platform arrives in the fall of ’03 for ’04.