NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The ceremonial first Saturn automobile was driven off the Spring Hill assembly line today by Roger Smith, the retiring chairman of General Motors Corp., the auto maker announced.

In a ceremony that was closed to the news media, Smith drove the car off the line at 10:57 a.m., accompanied in the metallic red, four-door "Job One" sedan by Owen Bieber, president of the United Auto Workers.

Smith, whose retires Tuesday, was followed in "Job Two" by incoming GM Chairman Robert Stempel.

They were joined by GM Executive Vice President Lloyd E. Reuss and UAW Region 8 Director George H. Smith, plus Saturn President Richard G. LeFauve.

The public in October will get its first authorized look at the Saturn line, GM's first new nameplate since Chevrolet in 1917.