truth about domestics

I have been waiting for the new Buick Regal to hit our shores and the time has finally come.  Above is the first commercial for the new Regal, and it does a nice job of showing off the car.  Hopefully people will buy the fact that its “German” engineering means it’s a high quality car, but only time (and sales) will tell.

If you take a look at the evidence, it seems pretty clear that Buick is planning on bringing a Buick Regal wagon to the United States sometime in the near-to-short term future.  Let me lay it out for you.  First Buick shows off the Regal sedan and then says it will come to the US (basically a rebadged version of the Opel Insignia.)  Then Bob Lutz says GM is looking at a high performance Regal GS and a wagon.  Then the Regal GS concept shows up at the Detroit Auto Show in January.  Well now a fleet of Insignia wagons has shown up in the U.S. and was seen sitting with a bunch of Buick Regal sedans.  For more details, head on over to Jalopnik.

(Image source: Opel)

General Motors has announced that production of the Camaro convertible and the 2011 Buick Regal will start in the first quarter of 2011.  The Regal goes on sale this summer, with the initial units being shipped in from Germany until production can commence here in North America.  The Camaro convertible joins the hot selling Camaro coupe when it goes on sale early next year.  The addition of these two cars brings about 700 jobs back to the Oshawa, Ontario assembly plant that builds the Camaro now.  For more details, head on over to Autoblog.

(Image source: GM)

While most in the industry believe GM will build the car pictured above, GM is still saying it is in the process of studying the market and customer interest.  Right.  The car is based on the 2011 Buick Regal, and is called the Regal GS.  Anyway, enjoy the pictures and make sure you head on out to the Detroit Auto Show to check out this car!

So, maybe you’ve heard the talk on the internets about the high-performance Buick Regal that GM may or may not be building.  Well, a concept is being shown at the Detroit Auto Show that is being called the Buick Regal GS.  The car features a turbocharged 4-cylinder putting out 255 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque.  That power is routed through a six-speed manual on its way to a Haldex-based 4-wheel drive system.  All of that power is brought to a halt by Brembo brakes…Brembo’s on a BUICK!  For more details, head on over to Autoblog, or check out the coverage on Jalopnik.  Two sources…you’re welcome!

(Image source: GM)

According to GM’s vice president of communications, Chris Preuss, General Motors has some pretty big concepts to unveil at this years Detroit Auto Show.  The Cadillac XTS will be shown as the replacement for the ages old DTS sedan.  GMC will be showing the Granite off as the sibling to the Chevrolet Orlando, both built on the new Delta platform.  Chevrolet will be showing off the new Aveo RS, supposedly more shapely than the current Aveo.  Buick will also have a high performance version of the 2011 Regal, so stay tuned for more news from the 2010 North American International Auto Show.  For now, head on over to Autoblog.

(Image source: GM)

The average age of a new car buyer today is 52.  The average age of a Buick buyer?  70!  Buick is hoping to lower that number, and it needs to in order to compete with rivals Lexus and Acura.  The first step in a younger direction was the 2010 LaCrosse.  The average age for the sharp looking new sedan is 55, 15 years below Buick’s average but still older than Brian Sweeney likes.  Sweeney is Buick/GMC’s new division manager, and he’s hoping to lower the age even more with the new 2011 Buick Regal.  Their hope is that by using “experimental marketing” they will be able to attract an even younger crowd to Buick.  For more details, head on over to Autoblog.

(Image source: GM)

The domestics are making great strides in changing the negative perceptions that they built for themselves in the 70′s, 80′s and most of the 90′s.  5 of the ten cars to most look forward to were from the domestic automakers.  They were the Buick Regal, Chevrolet Cruze, Chevy Volt, Ford S-Max, and the Ford Fiesta!  For more details on each car, head on over to MSNBC.

(Image source: German car zone)

The Chevy Orlando has been a stunning concept ever since it debuted almost a year ago.  Well word has come out that GM will show a concept of the GMC version to be called Granite.  That’s not all, Buick will reportedly show off a high performance version of the 2011 Buick Regal!  Hopefully it has some form of sporty like the Opel Insignia on which it is based.  For more details, head on over to Canadian Driver.

(Image source: GM)

In an interesting bit of news, General Motors announced that the 2011 Buick Regal would be entering production in early 2011 at the Oshawa assembly plant in Ontario.  Then they slipped in a bit of news that the 2011 Chevrolet Camaro convertible would also be starting production at that time.  Say what!?  The Mustang will finally have some drop top muscle car competition and that can’t be bad for sales.  For more, head on over to Autoblog.

(Image source: GM)