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Here along the winding back roads of Fauquier County was evidence of General Motors Corp.’s renewed vigor.

It was a ride-and-drive exhibition of 2007-model cars and trucks, one of which, the mid-size Saturn Aura XE sedan, is the subject of this week’s review.

Products make or break a company. The vehicles brought to the village of Hume for examination by East Coast automotive journalists prove that GM, once broken, is on the mend.

The base Saturn Aura XE is a case in point. Please note the word “base.”

Previously, GM relied on its top-of-the-line models to make a good impression at media show-and-tell events. That made sense, because the company’s base cars and trucks in the 1980s and most of the 1990s constituted rental-car fare, generally unremarkable and unworthy of media or consumer attention.

That was the old GM, which had mastered the art of rationalizing the lackluster quality and marginal appeal of its new-vehicle entries by focusing on price — a kind of buy-one-get-one-free product development and marketing approach that ultimately served neither the company nor its consumers well.

The new GM is eager to let its products speak for themselves — so much so that the company has abandoned its neurotic habit of surrounding its engineers and designers with public relations executives and other spin artists at new-vehicle introductions.

And GM’s engineers and designers, freed to do what they love and do best, now happily answer any questions journalists and industry analysts ask about their market-ready vehicles. They’re willing to back up their answers by turning over the keys — without insisting on coming along for the ride as talking heads.

GM says its current attitude reflects “a new level of confidence” in what it is doing and where it is going as a car company. If so, the Aura XE indicates it’s moving in the right direction.

Even in base form with cloth seats, a 224-horsepower V-6, and a four-speed automatic transmission, the front-wheel-drive Aura sedan is a no-apologies car. It compares well with similarly equipped Honda Accord, Nissan Altima and Volkswagen Passat sedans.

In the premium mid-size sedan segment, the upscale Aura XR, with supple leather seats, a 252-horsepower V-6 and a six-speed automatic transmission, gives the front-wheel-drive versions of the Audi A4 and Volvo S60 sedans a very good run for the money.

Fit and finish on the base Aura XE are impeccable. Gaps between exterior panels are barely noticeable. All interior materials, including the seat fabric, are first-rate. Driver-seat comfort is excellent, as good as, if not better than, that of substantially more costly cars. In short, the Aura XE’s passenger cabin is a winner, a visually stunning knockout, the best of any produced by GM’s Saturn Corp. subsidiary since its founding in 1985.

It is important to understand that both the Aura XE and XR are family cars, which means they are more “us” automobiles than they are ground-scorching “me” machines. Yet, the tested XE, with its rigid body construction and four-wheel independent suspension, is quite amenable to spirited highway romps. It tracks nicely around curves, is amazingly stable and sure-footed in high-speed lane changes, and runs up mountain roads without hesitating or gasping for air. It is the first genuinely likable, got-to-have, give-me-that-one sedan to come from Saturn.

GM executives interviewed here said that their objective is to give consumers much more than they expect from a car in the $20,000 to $30,000 price range. They say they want to “over deliver” in terms of product attributes.

That sounds nice. But from a buyer’s perspective, it’s off the mark.

The Aura XE and XR are the cars consumers expected from GM and Saturn all along. The company finally is giving consumers what they want. That’s not over-delivering. It’s meeting the legitimate expectations of a demanding, discerning, product-savvy marketplace.

Nuts & Bolts
2007 Saturn Aura XE

Complaints: I have no problems with the Aura, not even with the base model’s four-speed automatic transmission, which may seem obsolete among gearboxes with five, six and seven speeds. The Aura XE works wonderfully.

Ride, acceleration and handling: Excellent in all three categories The car dances nicely in the curves, never hinting at losing control in the front or rear. Acceleration affords confident, competent high-speed lane changes.

Head-turning quotient: The Aura XE drew rave spectator reviews from the public — the first time I’ve seen such acclaim for a Saturn sedan.

Body style/layout: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, mid-size family sedan built on the Pontiac G6 and Chevrolet Malibu Maxx platform. Available as the base XE and the upscale XR for drivers seeking more power and comfort.

Engines/transmissions: The tested Aura XE comes with a 3.5-liter V-6 engine that develops 224 horsepower at 5,800 revolutions per minute and 220 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000 rpm mated to a four-speed automatic transmission. The XR’s 3.6-liter V-6 has 252 horsepower at 6,300 rpm and 251 foot-pounds of torque at 3,200 rpm with a six-speed automatic.

Capacities: The Auras have seating for five. Cargo capacity is 15.7 cubic feet. The fuel tank holds 16.4 gallons of recommended regular unleaded gasoline.

Mileage: The XE gets 20 miles per gallon in the city and 29 miles per gallon on the highway, compared with 20 miles per gallon in the city and 28 miles per gallon on the highway for the XR, according to federal mileage tests.

Safety: Standard safety features on the Aura XE and XR include “smart” front air bags that adjust deployment speeds based on frontal collision severity and will not deploy on the passenger’s side if that seat is unoccupied. Head and side air bags, pre-tensioning seat belts and four-wheel antilock brakes are also standard. The XE gets standard traction control to help maintain control on slippery roads. The XR gets GM’s StabiliTrak electronic stability control system, which helps compensate for too-quick turns or other wrong moves.

Price: The Auras go on sale this fall. The XE has a $19,445 manufacturer’s suggested retail price and an $18,649 dealer’s invoice price. The XR starts at $23,945 with a $22,389 dealer’s invoice price. Both get an additional $650 transportation charge. Options can push XE pricing closer to $25,000 and XR’s toward $28,000. .

Purse-strings note: The Aura gets a strong “buy” recommendation. Compare with any mid-size family sedan.