2011 Buick Regal Pictures

2011 Buick Regal
2011 Buick Regal


2011 Buick Regal

Regal fuels Buick revival

2011 Buick Regal may be the best chance for that. About an inch longer and wider than the current Toyota Camry, the Regal is certainly an alternative to the popular Camry/Honda Accord/Nissan Altima trio, but the Regal is aimed slightly more upscale, in both content and price. It should be available by May.

The Regal is essentially an Americanized version of the Opel Insignia, and the first Regals sold in the U.S. will be built in the Opel plant in Russelsheim, Germany. Later this year production shifts to the GM plant in Ontario, Canada, which is currently building the Chevrolet Camaro.

Yes, General Motors has tried to sell Opel-based vehicles in the U.S. before, most notably the Cadillac Catera. But this time, GM hopes the result is more successful. And after a brief drive in a 2011 Regal that was close to U.S. production specifications, I think it could be a hit.

Styling is attractive, and quite un-Buick-like – gone is any hint of the traditional triple portholes on the front fenders. Inside, the Regal CXL – a base-model CS will be offered next year – comes standard with leather upholstery and a lot of other luxury features. Also standard is most every safety feature GM has, including stability control and OnStar. Base price of the CXL is $26,245, or $26,995 with shipping.

2011 Buick Regal to make debut soon

The new 2011 Regal started production earlier this week in Germany, and will begin making its way to dealerships in the U.S. in the next couple months. Later, production will be moved Stateside, but to get the vehicle in consumer's hands as quickly as possible, production started in the same plant that currently produces Regal's European sibling: the Opel Insignia.

2012 Buick Regal GS might be offered without the all-wheel drive system

As you may know already GM is woking hard on the 2012 Buick Regal GS, which will be based on the Regal GS Concept, unveiled back in January at the Detroit Auto Show but also on the all-wheel drive Opel Insignia OPC.


Now here is the bad news… Apparently, the upcoming car will be offered without the all-wheel drive system. This was confirmed by Bob Lutz, GM’s Vice Chairman who said that the produc planners are debating whether all-wheel drive is worth the added weight and cost.

2012 Buick Regal GS Pictures

2012 Buick Regal GS Pictures

Buick with un-Buick-like performance

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.

Buick prepares new flagship 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."