Actually if I were going to buy a four-door anything it would probably be a crossover or mid-size SUV. For me that current shortlist is Chevy Equinox, Chevy Traverse, Cadillac SRX, and Jeep Wrangler Unlimited.

 

I don't see this as a good analogy of what's going on with Buick. Buick was already (allegedly) a near luxury division. Saturn was an economy division whose cars went from starting under 12k to starting over 20k in the period of a year. That's a problem.

I think that turbos and manual transmissions are exactly what will attract those buyers who might not have looked at a Buick before to cars like this. They need the customer who is considering a TSX or a base A4. And you can say "those customers don't consider Buicks" - well, GM had better get them to start considering Buicks or we're going to be burying another division.

I have to wonder how many of the people buying the current CTS were considering a Cadillac 5 years ago?

 

Good points.

I bought my CTS because it had the right combination of utility, (4 doors/5 seats), exquisite chassis dynamics and available manual trans.

If GM had anything else like that fit the bill, I would have considered it too. The product cupboards were pretty bare though. I would have checked something like this out for sure.

 

You got the "tz" part right, but it's Lutz.

 

x2.

My requirement list:
Fuel economy - at or better than my GTP.
Acceleration, braking, handling - all better than my GTP.
Safety - superior to my GTP.
Seats - more side bolsters than my GTP.
Trans - a manual offering.
Storage - at or better than my GTP.
Heads up display a plus.
Sportwagon a major plus (dog + leather + backseat = fail)




Put that into lots and I doubt it'd move that many units - but what it'd do though is generate a lot of commotion and "Pontiac" excitement over the Buick brand.

Talk about crazy seats for a buick.
Heck, the OPC comes with 14" front Brembos. Not lame brakes.
We know GM Powertrain would get a good engine in there too.
The Halidex AWD system is pretty good as well.
Styling looks great on the OPC.

And yes, I'd strongly consider it, assuming buick didn't neuter the styling or options and it was priced reasonably.

 

I would but it'd depend on pricing. AWD and m6 are both big selling points for me. I don't know much about the turbo 2.8L but i would love to see a TT version of the 3.6L DI v6.

 

I mostly like it. Not a big fan of the wheels or front end styling, but I think it's reasonable to guess that a Buick version would be slightly different in those respects.

If it's AWD+turbo+manual, I'm even more interested.

It would, of course, depend on price, options, etc., but so far I like what I see.

 

I've said it before in the other Regal thread and I agree with this statement so much that this vehicle moves to number 1 on my list. I'm buying a car and the Regal will be out nearly a year when I'm on the market. AWD, turbo, manual is what I want with some luxury options. I have no issue with this car being a Buick. Until now, only Cadillac offered a car I like but still lacking in some of these departments. As long as the price and options are inline, count me in.

 

Buick has not been near luxury, it has been near death. The problem is, GM wants a brand that competes somewhere in between Honda/Nissan and Acura/Infiniti. Saturn was a more logical fit to grow in to the role because it's original young customers were becoming more affluent, and would not consider any other GM car. In the end it did not work because GM did not have the money, or stomach for it.

Buick is an old, essentially dead brand (more dead than Pontiac was). Now they are trying to fit it in a segment where being relevent and cool, stylish repuation stylish is the key to sales. When people hear Buick..they think "old", and "Docter's car". We can sit hear on a car message board and act like that is not the case, but it is true.

First off the sucess of Cadillac is debatable. CTS, Escalade, and now SRX are all competitive, well executed products. However Cadillac also has the STS, XLR, old SRX, and DTS as eveidence of ireelevent cars that missed the spot. They desperatly need a car like the MKS. Either way...at one point, Cadillac was known as the standard of the world, and had a ton of money thrown at it (exclusive Zeta platform). Buick on the other hand as long as I have been alive has been an old person/docter car. On top of that GM is not really spending a lot of money on the brand..all we are getting is slightly retouched Chinese Buicks, which are rebadged Opels.

I am not saying Buick cannot be successful..but I am saying it will take a long time and cost more money than GM likely has the taste for.

 

Basically the same thing, so +1. I don't mind too much if it doesn't have an optional manual transmission, but I'd probably get it if it did.

For now the GS will stick around. I've considered getting rid of it for a long time, but it's been way too good to me and it's gonna take a lot to convince me it's time to move on.

 

Price is gunna be high, some where under the CTS-V, but north of a base CTS.
That puts it at around the 40k mark. Right there with the SHO, but the Regal will offer a bit more technology.

 

Regal GS chop by MonaroSS at GMI:

 

ehhhhhhhhhhhh...monaro's done better.
should make the grill smaller..a lot smaller.

 

OT but this video is the kind of thing that should be broadcast to TV audiences and give people a more accepting view of Buick and GM...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhshh3zOgMg

 

I'd put it right up there with Corvette, Camaro and CTS-V on my list. It would certainly go A LONG way in making me believe that Buick might actually succeed as GM's middle brand, that's for sure.