First of all Saturn is made by GM (Chevy)...it replaced Oldsmobile in the product line, when GM decided to kill a brand that skewed old and male (and sold few units), with one engineered to fit a young, female buyer.
Around the same time (mid-late 90's) the build quality of American vehicles enjoyed a well-documented increase in overall quality. The longer warranty periods you see on domestic vehicles are a direct result of that. Warranty periods are based on service actuarials of the previous model years - otherwise all car companies and dealers would go bankrupt on service.
No domestic producer is quite as "bulletproof" as either Honda or Toyota (YET!!!), but GM has already exceeded the build quality and reliability of several Euro producers in some recent lines (and has actually increased BQ in SAAB's offerings), and Chrysler has integrated quite a lot of Mercedes tech into their product line.
Not just my $.02, but just about the only thing on which the mainstream auto press can reach consensus currently.