Article

 

Mazda 3

 

I'll see your Mazda 3 (I can see some resemblance)...

And raise you the 2010 Opel Astra. *edit* just saw the article posted even says this





Who says Rebadging is dead? I mean, I know Fritz does...but that's only for really good cars

And IMO, the Opel looks much better than the pic of that Buick. Hopefully it'll look much better in person.

 

That color red is the same color red used on the Aveo.

That shouldn't happen.

 

Looks like Victory Red to me. Victory is available on virtually every Chevy, Aveo, Cobalt, Impala, Camaro.

Who knows what the color selection will be for our market. The red is on the hatch, which from what I have heard will come later to the U.S., if at all.

 

looks dated already. oh boy another big hit for GM!

 

Yey...

 

Wasn't the Astra pretty crappy when Saturn had it?

 

ghey... another Buick flop..

 

Sad thing is..it likely would have been a great Pontiac since they were bleeding customers to Mazda.

 

It wasn't that it was crappy.

It was that instead of getting a mainstream version of the car for Saturn, what was sent was essentially the stripped version of the car.

When you look at the interior of the Opel version and the Saturn version, it's as if you were looking at the "Taxi cab" edition of the thing in the Saturn.

Judging by the exterior pictures of the Opel Astra and Buick version of it(check out the differences in the wheels, window trim, and attention to detail in the front end designs!), I get a bad feeling that GM is making the same questionable decision again.

We're talking I'm guessing no more than $50 worth of trim, $50 worth of additional front detailing, and maybe a $100 wholesale difference in wheel costs.

I feel like I'm looking at old stupid GM mindset: Cutting a dime's worth to save money instead of adding a dime's worth and charging an extra 11 cents and gain a better quality reputation in the process.

 

Are they importing this from Germany. If so..cost has to be a concern....while labor is cheaper in Germany, it is nowhere near Asia cheap.

 

Boy, they're really ripping off the Audi headlight design.

 

1. There is nothing to indicate that this is the trim of the car we will get in the U.S. This was photographed in China. Until we see a U.S. production intent version, I don't think any definitive conclusion can be drawn.

2. The U.S. Astra was built in Belgium for U.S. import. The small Buick will be built in the U.S., either alongside the Cruze at Lordstown or the Volt at Hamtrack.

I think a lot of people are hating on this car because they want to more than anything. It probably singlehandedly killed pontiac .

 

Not hating on the car. I do thank the lucky stars it isn't a Cruze with a nose job.

But what Buick needs if they are going to market this thing and still be that "Lexus" that Mr Lutz is aiming for, it's not how good the car is built or holds together. It's going to be attention to the details... the little things. Trim. Detailing on the headlights. Detailing on the front end. An interior that has a warm, comfortable feel, not devoid of trim to save money under the false heading of "looking sporty".

Fritz Henderson is routinely using his authority to simply bypass and overrule GM's traditional way of doing things:

Buick's general manager wants better materials for the new Regal's interior???
Skip the GM cost analysis studies, approved!!!

GM has a meeting to decide what to go over for the real meeting???
Abolished!!!

GM has 3 departments that make decisions to produce a new vehicle that takes months??
Scrap it, replace it with a 9 member comitte that can make decisions quickly after a full presentation!!!

I really hope Fritz uses his newly found General Motors CEO powers to make this Buick (as well as other future GM cars) as good as they should be, and not "good enough" as determined by the old entrenched folks that got GM to where it was month before last.