Buick cars

2012 Buick Verano

Just a few days before the official debut at the Detroit Auto Show, Buick has decided it was time to uncover the 2012 Verano. This new compact luxury sedan is the third model Buick has revealed in the past two years. It will go on sale in the fourth quarter of 2011, with its sights set on competing with the Lexus IS 250 and the Audi A3.

The 2012 Buick Verano has a refined styling with a sporty profile, luxurious interior, and a powerful and efficient engine. "Verano expands our lineup, continues Buick’s momentum and gives us a great opportunity to attract a new generation of customers with a product that delivers on their expectations for design, performance and technology," said John Schwegman, vice president of Buick marketing. "It is a smart choice that delivers unexpected luxury in a compact sedan – and it will compete head-to-head with competitors from Audi and Lexus."

Hit the jump to read more about the 2012 Buick Verano.

Top Gear USA: Episode 5

We are going to start betting on the fact that Top Gear USA is going to be a household name by the time it wraps up its third season. The show is gaining fans all over and the naysayers of the show are starting to come around.

And why shouldn’t they? With the funny challenges, the decent reviews, and the big stars, Top Gear USA is building itself up rather nicely. Let’s just hope that the balloon doesn’t deflate before we can win our little bet.

In this week’s episode, the guys from Top Gear USA run a few old GM models through a series of challenges to see which one should reenter production, Tony Hawk takes the Subaru around the Top Gear USA test track, and the news segment comes around again.

UPDATE 12/21/2010: Check out Top Gear USA’s rendering of their 2011 Buick Roadmaster in the gallery!

Hit the jump to see all of the details for this week’s episode of Top Gear USA.

2012 Buick LaCrosse

Take a pick among General Motors’ line-up of auto brands when it comes to overall popularity and chances are you’d take a while before picking Buick among them. It’s not the most popular brand by any stretch of the imagination, but thanks to a rejuvenation, Buick is looking like it’s going to be a major player in the mid-size luxury sedan with the 2012 Buick LaCrosse.

Taking the reins from the previous LaCrosse model, the 2012 model looks to take the company to the next level with an all new eAssist system that Buick is proclaiming to improve fuel economy by 25 percent. What’s most impressive about the new LaCrosse is that despite the state-of-the-art system that’s been given to the vehicle, Buick is not giving it an added impetus – separate cost from the vehicle – but rather, is putting the eAssist system as a standard feature in all 2012 models of the LaCrosse.

That, in itself, says a lot about Buick and it’s latest mid-size luxury sedan.

Continued after the jump.

A New Name For The Chevrolet Aveo

It’s not often we get things right when we make jokes, but we did say that we thought Chevrolet should change the name of the new Aveo. After all, the last one really was terrible.

We completely agree with this rumor, as separating this new model with the last one can only help sales. Take the new Cruze for instance. If it had been called the redesigned Cobalt, would it have gotten the attention it’s currently getting?

The new Aveo will be built at GM’s Orion plant, which it recently renovated. Along with the new Aveo, Buick’s small premium car, the Verano, will be built there as well. It will be the first small car built by the company in over 20 years and will be based off of the Cruze. In total, these two new vehicles could help save up to 1,500 jobs which could be extremely helpful in the current economy.

Hit the jump to see the press release.

2012 Buick Verano teased

Teaser images in the year 2010 are turning into what brightly colored, mismatched baggy clothes were in the 90’s; widespread and tacky. Jumping on this latest strip tease trend is General Motors with their first teaser image of the 2012 Buick Verano. The teaser reveals a big part of the car’s bonnet as well as a good portion of the front bumper. Are we crazy impressed? Of course not.

The future Verano is a new compact model that aims to customers looking for a car smaller than the Buick Regal and will be built at the at the Orion Assembly Center alongside Chevrolet’s new small car. The choice of venue is simple based on the fact that GM is dropping a sizable amount of cash into retooling the plant. The total cost of investment is approximately $600 million, including both the new small car and the Verano.

"Verano will bring premium styling, performance and content to Buick buyers wanting a smaller car than Regal," said Reuss. "The investment in Orion Assembly also extends GM’s local small car footprint, again increasing the number of U.S.-made small vehicles available in showrooms."

Improvements for the Orion Assembly Center are expected to be finished by summer 2011.

Press release after the jump.

America’s Power Sedan: The Buick Regal GS

The Mercedes Benz C63 AMG, Audi S4, BMW M3, Lexus IS-F, and the Cadillac CTS-V are all wonderful machines, but a tad expensive for those of us that don’t make that sort of cash. We’re more in the mid-level range and there isn’t a whole lot of performance sedans on offer. Buick has apparently seen this market gap and decided to exploit it with the new Regal GS.

We have already heard that the GS will be made, but we haven’t had an article go in depth to really examine what it will feature and what it will be like to drive. Let’s just say it should be good, as the normal Regal was pretty special.

It won’t be easy for Buick to create the GS. The base Regal was so good, that anything but perfection would be a bit of a let down. General Motors has been on a roll lately, but can they keep it up?

Hit the jump to find out.

A New Sort Of Thing: The Buick Regal CXL

Take a visual trip with us down to Florida. Ignore the hot sun, sticky humidity, alligators, hurricanes, and all the other stuff that makes the state terrible, and focus on the retirees. What sort of car are they driving at 10 miles per hour below the speed limit? If you guessed a Buick, you would be right. We would have also accepted Cadillac and Toyota.

That’s the image that most people get when they think of the Buick brand. Grandparents above the age of 65 driving around in boats dressed up in the shape of a car with a suspension so soft and leather so plush that you could mistake it for a yacht. That is the exact reason why General Motors nearly went belly up.

The message coming from automotive enthusiasts finally sunk in to GM’s thick skulls and they presented us with the new Buick Regal, basically an Opel Insignia with a new badge. So, does this new sedan shake off the old image, or should we leave it at the retirement home when the test is complete?

Hit the jump to find out.

Buick Verona compact car coming in two years

Gas prices won’t stay cheap forever and the automakers have been charged with the duty of making small and fuel-efficient cars. We know that the majority of the public isn’t smart about car buying. The phrase, “bigger is better” seems to play over and over again in the heads of car shoppers. Yet, when the price of gas rises, so do small car sales and, unlike last time, General Motors is ready.

Buick will be introducing the Verano compact car, as well as a LaCrosse hybrid sedan. We have no idea what will be under the hood of this car, or what platform it will get. If we had to guess, we would say the car would be based on the new Chevrolet Cruze, as it would be almost the same size.

Cadillac, GMC, and Chevrolet are also working on fuel-efficient vehicles. Cadillac is working on the ATS, GMC has been creating a production version of the Granite concept, and Chevy should have an all-new Aveo to go alongside the Spark. Automotive News is also reporting that GM is planning on shrinking the Impala.

Lots of big things are coming about for the small car market. Let’s just hope these alternative options will offer style as well as function.

100,000th Buick Lacrosse sold in China

The 2010 Buick Lacrosse is far from being one of the most desirable cars in the world, but, apparently, it’s not all that undesirable either. This is especially true in China where General Motors recently commemorated a milestone by selling the 100,000th Buick Lacrosse in the country.

What makes it even more impressive is that the premium sedan reached that number after only being in the Chinese market for less than a year. Also worth noting is that the car has also been given a number of awards in the country, including the 2009 China Car of the Year and the 2009 Champion Car of the Year.

It’s probably safe to say now that the car’s success in China is a testament to a market that’s embraced the car unlike any vehicle in the country’s history. You don’t need a rocket scientist to figure that one out because selling 100,000 vehicles in less than a year is all the proof you need.

Buick Planning Coupe, Convertible Regal?

During a live webchat, Buick’s marketing chief Rover McCormack revealed some future plans for the company. It seems the automaker is looking into a coupe and a convertible model.

Buick has a big hit on their hands with the new 2011 Regal and it seems the company isn’t done with it just yet. McCormack said that a coupe version of the Regal was receiving “very strong consideration”, according to EgmCartech.

McCormack then went on to suggest that, “We [Buick] are always looking for ways to excite our customers…I think a convertible would do just that.”

If that’s not a sure thing, we don’t know what is. While nothing was officially announced, McCormack’s words were all that we needed to hear.

McCormack also mentioned a wagon variant of the Regal, to finish out the model line. We have seen a few spy photographs of the Regal wagon on the roads.

We look forward to these new models and we hope that they look as good as the four-door Regal.