Is Buick planning a Regal wagon? The signs all say yes…eventually…
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)
Jalopnik drives the 2011 Buick Regal and walk away very impressed!
I know, it’s hard to believe, but Jalopnik actually liked the 2011 Buick Regal! Can you blame them though, I mean, the car is based on the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia which has won tons of awards and is a top-seller. They have pretty much only one complaint about the car and that is…well, why don’t you just head on over to Jalopnik to find out what it is!
(Image source: Jalopnik)
German Chancellor angry at GM’s decision to not sell Opel
German Chancellor Angela Merkel needs to settle down now. The chancellor is bitter at GM’s reversal of decision to sell Opel in Europe to Magna and Gaz. Her fear is that GM is going to cut too many jobs at Opel, as compared to Magna’s plans.
GM decided to not sell Opel because of its small car platforms and also the improving global economy. This is a smart move in my opinion; how else would GM be a global company if it sold off most of its operations in Europe?
Does Angela Merkel actually think that Opel can be more successful under the ownership of Magna and Russia’s Gaz? She should relax.
Read the full article at New Europe.
On a day when GM posted a 4% increase in sales for October, GM also announced that it is backing out of its sale of Opel. GM cited an improvement in the economy and the importance of Opel’s compact car technology as reasons for reconsidering the sale.
GM had been in discussions to sell Opel with Magna and Russia’s Gaz since May, but finally settled on keeping Opel and restructuring it. A restructuring of Opel will cost GM as much as $4.5 billion and may additionally cost thousands of jobs.
Opel is important to GM because it has excellent penetration in the European market and a lot of expertise in compact cars, both of which are important to GM as it strives to be a global company. Good choice on GM’s part…
Read the full article at The Washington Post.
Saturn VUE Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle becomes Buick PHEV!
Other sites seem to be making a big deal out of this…like it wasn’t totally expected. GM has been planning on moving certain Opel models over to Saturn, like the new Insignia, for some time now. Well now that Saturn has been shed from GM, those models are being used to create new Buick’s in China…so since most of the development work was already done, why not sell them here as Buick’s too?
With the PHEV Saturn VUE, a large portion of the development was already done, so it makes sense to put all of that time and substantial cost to work as a Buick here in the States (and China too.) For the full story, as well as the official press release from General Motors, click on over to Autobloggreen.
Opel-lac Insignia (Photo-chop courtesy of Autoblog)
Earlier we posted an article which stated that future Buick models would share parts and platforms with Opel from Europe. Apparently, according to the Detroit Free Press, General Motors is now considering offering the Opel Insignia in the U.S. as a Cadillac. The Insignia is a very bold, attractive looking car with tons of high tech features, including a camera that can read speed limit signs and display the speed in the instrument panel. It was originally believed that the Insignia would be the next Saturn Aura here in the States, but with the planned demise of Saturn, GM is probably looking at other options, including this one. For more, head on over to the Detroit Free Press.
2010 Buick LaCrosse
According to the Automotive News, GM will be sharing vehicles between Buick in the US and Opel in Europe. Sure, it’s the same thing GM did when they revamped Saturn’s lineup a few years back, but in all honesty, their cars are very nice. Competitive powertrains, nice interiors, and very modern styling all set new Saturns (Opels) apart from the competition. The newest models look even nicer, like the 2010 Buick LaCrosse, pictured above. Hopefully this business plan works out better the second time around for GM, as becoming a global automaker will help reduce costs and improve reliability as well. Head on over to Autoblog for the details.
