New Buick Regal as Premium Sport Sedan

2011 Buick Regal.

Good thing General Motors held onto Opel, its German subsidiary. Otherwise, where would it get the platforms for new products?

On Thursday, Buick announced that its new Regal would go on sale in the second quarter of next year as a 2011 model. Based on the Opel Insignia, winner of last year’s European Car of the Year award, the Regal has been available in China since December. More than 64,000 have been sold.

Buick will formally introduce the new midsize car in America at the Los Angeles auto show next month. At first, it will be available only with a 2.4-liter, 4-cylinder engine with 182 horsepower. A turbocharged 2-liter, 4-cylinder with 220 horsepower will be added late next summer. The turbocharged version will come with bigger brakes. Both engines will come with a 6-speed automatic transmission.

Inside the 2011 Buick Regal.

Buick said that the Regal equipped with the 2.4-liter engine would get 30 miles a gallon on the highway, while the turbo model would get 29.

Buick has not used the Regal nameplate since 2004, when the car fell squarely under the heading of family sedan. In its Thursday news release, Buick compared the 2011 Regal with the Acura TSX and the Volvo S60. Buick also called the new Regal a premium sport sedan, which means that people will no doubt compare it with the BMW 3 series and the Infiniti G37 (both rear-wheel-drive cars). All four competitors’ cars will provide the new Regal with tough competition because Buick is typically not associated with premium sports sedans.