Thursday, February 25, 2010

Buick with un-Buick-like performance

LaCrosse

The LaCrosse tested – it was known as the Allure here until the arrival of this all-new, second-generation model – was the line-topping CXS model with 3.6-litre, 280-hp V-6 and equipped with handling and other upgrades that raised its base price from $40,795 to an as-tested $50, 960.

I drove it on the road for a week, and sampled a nearly identically one at last fall's Canadian Car of the Year TestFest by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada.

A $47,600 version was entered in the Best New Family Sedan over $30,000 category that I helped judge, up against a $35,999 Ford Fusion Hybrid and $37,399 Ford Taurus, which won. As price is factored into the outcome, I'd have been interested to see how a base LaCrosse would have fared against the Taurus. The LaCrosse was one of the three finalists in the separately run 2010 North American Car of The Year competition, along with the Ford Fusion Hybrid and the Volkswagen Golf/GTI; the Fusion Hybrid won the title.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Buick prepares new flagship coupe

Buick coupe
General Motors announced that the Buick line-up will be expanded with a new coupe model in the next few years. The future coupe will be a "statement, all the design cues and everything would drive themselves down into all Buicks."

"Buick definitely needs more product in the pipeline. My role is really being a zealot for getting Buick more youthful, more spirited and probing ideas [for] coupes, more expressive vehicles. That is really my job," said John Cafaro, director of design for Buick and Chevrolet.

"Buick is kind of going through what Cadillac went through" when it reinvented itself, he said. "Cadillac said: ’What we are doing is not working. Our customers are dying off. We have to carve a new image.’ That is where Buick is right now."

2010 Buick LaCrosse

2010 Buick LaCrosse

America's seniors are getting less and less attention from Detroit these days. They've had their bench seats, station wagons, and most of the large rear-wheel-drive sedans taken away, not to mention the storied brands of Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Plymouth. The "Greatest Generation" that led the American auto industry out of World War II and into its seemingly unstoppable dominance in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s has now been written off.

As a result, seniors aren't buying anymore. And when they do, it's not always from Detroit.

My grandfather, now 84, made a healthy habit of surprising his wife and kids with a new Dodge, Chevy, Ford, or a Buick. He toys with the idea of getting a pickup truck, but admits he probably won't buy another car. He's just fine cruising around town-in a Volvo.

Despite being chosen by General Motors as one of its four "core" brands, Buick, which has a median buyer age of nearly 70, is closer to outdated iron than a Detroit rebirth. Its famous discontinued models — Roadmaster, Park Avenue, Riviera — were as expansive and rich as the real estate they evoked. Its latest discontinued models — Rainer, Rendezvous, Terraza — sparked all the allure of a rebadged Chevy. So how is Buick going to attract today's entry-level luxury buyers, the younger, middle-aged Americans stuck on Lexus?

Sunday, February 14, 2010

A look at the 2010 Buick LaCrosse

2010 Buick LaCrosse

LaCrosse CXS

BASE PRICE: $27,085 for base CX; $29,645 for front-wheel drive CXL; $31,820 for all-wheel drive CXL; $33,015 for CXS.

AS TESTED: $35,955.

TYPE: Front-engine, front-wheel drive, five-passenger, mid-size sedan.

ENGINE: 3.6-liter V-6 with VVT and direct injection.

MILEAGE: 17 mpg (city), 27 mpg (highway).

TOP SPEED: NA.

LENGTH: 197 inches.

WHEELBASE: 111.7 inches.

CURB WEIGHT: 4,065 pounds.

BUILT AT: Kansas City, Kan.

OPTIONS: Premium audio system with navigation and backup camera $1,995; Carbon Black metallic paint $195.

DESTINATION CHARGE: $750.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Buick lineup to get Regal in spring

http://media.mysanantonio.com/images/215*133/Sunday_Drive_0207.ART_GOG85PEU.1_2011_BUICK_REGAL.15532490.jpgPrices for the all-new, 2011 Buick Regal sedan will begin at $26,995 (including $750 freight) for the premium CXL model with a normally aspirated four-cylinder engine and $29,495 for the CXL with a turbocharged four-cylinder, General Motors has announced.

The first of the new Regals destined for U.S. dealerships will begin arriving in late spring and will be produced at GM's Opel factory in Russelsheim, Germany.

North American production of the Regal won't begin until early next year at GM's Oshawa plant in Ontario, Canada, the automaker said.

Regal CXL models will be well-equipped, with such standard features as the 182-horsepower, 2.4-liter Ecotec four-cylinder engine, a six-speed automatic transmission with manual-shift function and, on the turbo model, a 220-horsepower, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. That engine will not be available until late summer, the automaker said.

The base engine is the same direct-injection four-cylinder found in the Chevrolet Malibu and several other GM models.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/topdown/detail?entry_id=56791#ixzz0euygqEhr

Thursday, February 4, 2010

2011 Buick Regal

2011 Buick Regal Picture

2011 Buick Regal Picture

2011 Buick Regal will be sold only in premium CXL trim.

2011 Buick Regal

http://www.caranddriver.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/features/10q1/2011_buick_regal-second_drive/gallery/2011_buick_regal_cxl_photo_1/3184069-1-eng-US/2011_buick_regal_cxl_1_cd_gallery.jpg
2011 Buick Regal
http://www.caranddriver.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/features/10q1/2011_buick_regal-second_drive/gallery/2011_buick_regal_cxl_photo_3/3184097-1-eng-US/2011_buick_regal_cxl_11_cd_gallery.jpg
The Regal will be launched with a 2.4- liter, direct-injection four-cylinder making 182 horsepower, followed a few months later by a 2.0-liter, DI turbo four that produces 220 horses. Initially, both engines will be offered with six-speed automatics, with a manual coming onstream for the turbo model slightly later. GM execs have no idea how many manuals the company will sell, but we predict they will be as rare as Chupacabras. In time, there’s a very good chance that a high-performance GS variant will be added. A concept car at the Detroit auto show previewed this all-wheel-drive version, powered by a 255-hp turbo four.

GM prices 2011 Buick Regal

http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/_photos/drive-on/2010/01/21/2011%20Buick%20Regal%20and%20Craig%20Bierley%20x-large.jpg
Buick says the least-expensive 2011 Regal sedan, temporarily, will be the mid-level CXL model, starting at $26,995. That's also the price of the base LaCrosse, called CX, which is a bigger car but not as well-equipped as the CXL Regal.

A lower-price CX version of Regal's not due until early next year, as 2012 model, Buick says.

Regal was unveiled at the Los Angeles auto show in December. The Regal CXL with 2.4-liter four-cylinder rated 182 horsepower is to go on sale the second quarter this year. A higher-performance version, CXL turbo with 2-liter four to be rated about 220 hp, is due late this summer.

To be clear, which is difficult, this year's Buick showrooms will have (in addition to the Enclave SUV) three cars: 2011 Regal, 2010 LaCrosse, 2010 Lucerne.