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Filed under: Budget, China, Hatchback, Buick, Misc. Auto Shows

2011 Buick Excelle XT - Click above for high-res image gallery

Back in August, when General Motors gave the media a tour of its design studios to show off pieces of its upcoming lineup, one of the cars we saw was a compact four-door Buick sedan. That sedan was essentially a re-grilled and trunked version of the recently introduced Opel Astra, but GM did not say what badging the car would receive in North America. However, the five-door hatchback version has just debuted in China at the Guangzhou Motor Show as the newest baby Buick.

In what is Buick's largest market, the compact is badged as the Excelle, and we wouldn't be surprised to see that name come to the U.S. provided there aren't any issues with the similarly named (and defunct) Hyundai Excel. The car we saw in August was identical to the Excelle shown above from the B-pillars forward. It only differs at the rear where the hatch was originally a traditional trunk.

Unlike the last Saturn Astra (and previous attempts at smaller Buicks), the inside of the new car looks much more upscale and should be more appealing to American consumers. We'll probably only get the 181-horsepower, 1.6-liter turbo four-cylinder in the Excelle in order to set it apart from the 140-hp Chevy Cruze that shares the same platform. If our version gets the 138-hp 1.8-liter at all, it will probably be paired with the automaker's new, second-generation BAS hybrid system.

Gallery: Buick Excelle XT

[Source: General Motors]

Continue reading New Buick Excelle debuts in China, sedan coming to America soon

New Buick Excelle debuts in China, sedan coming to America soon originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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[regfootball]

i'd still like the hatch myself. and 180hp is nice, but something like 220 as an option would be nice. the waterfall grille doesn't translate as nicely on this thing compared to on the Regal. mixing blue and red dash lighting doesnt work.

This post has been edited by regfootball: 30 November 2009 - 01:50 PM

[wildcat]

regfootball, on 30 November 2009 - 01:50 PM, said:

the waterfall grille doesn't translate as nicely on this thing compared to on the Regal.

I think if the grille would extend into the hood slightly, like the NA Regal's does, it would look better. (Instead of having the hood, some blank metal, then the grille.)

[smk4565]

Lexus Fighter!

[daves87rs]

Nice!

[pow]

This would make a great Saturn.

[bring_BUICK_back]

Give it up Saturn is dead and buried. It is now time for gm to focus on a line that will be profitable and that is Buick.

[Bimmer325]

smk4565, on 30 November 2009 - 09:16 PM, said:

Lexus Fighter!

LOL