wildcat

Will the better Buick please stand up?

"Since 1989, Toyota's Lexus ES sedans have been raking in gigantic piles of crispy green cashola by employing an absurdly elementary tactic: simply becoming Japan's Buick. You see, Buick's once colossal sales volume hasn't so much evaporated since its halcyon days as it's been incrementally hijacked by a Lexus that's consistently been offering Buick-to-the-bone qualities -- most notably relaxed quietness -- conjoined with Japanese quality."

In the end, Buick wins... by a nose.

To read the entire article, click here

"Buick sales up 37.4%"

Tim Higgins

Detroit Free Press, Jan. 5, 2010

Good news for Buick fans - read about Buick's momentum!

click here

When you think of cool Mercuries, what comes to your mind?

First, I guess I'd have to say a 1969 Mercury Cougar convertible. A co-worker of my Father's had an all-white one (white body, white top, whitewalls and wire wheels) at the time it was new. I thought it was sharp. I also personally like the big, stylish early '60s Mercs (though not as much as GM's stuff, of course LOL).

As a kid watching Hawaii Five-0, I was always a fan of Jack Lord's big, bad-ass black Mercury sedans. It was always a treat to watch the new fall TV shows, because the cars were all brand new for the model year, and it was sometimes the first place I got to see the new metal. Book 'em, Dan-O!

I recently got my Mother all 6 (so far) of the complete seasons of "Hawaii 5-0" on DVD. I watched a few episodes first and in one, the Mercury logo on the hood of Jack Lord's 1968 car was actually taped over with black tape. Then, in other episodes, it was clearly visible. I also watched one of the later episodes, where he was given a newer Mercury ('74?-'75?), and they showed a lack of continuity by using clips of McGarrett's old Mercury racing to some scene, even though he was now driving the newer one.

Lastly, as a kid, I had a green "Matchbox" of a '68 Mercury wagon LOL

Not bad for a four-door. You know, I never checked... does the Chevy Cruze have the same type of windshield wiper system?

Hi ocnblu. No, the Cruze does not. (See the photo linked below.)

clickity-clack

From China Car Times, here are some more pictures of the new Chinese Buick Excelle sedan. Maybe it's the gray-ish color of the body, rather than white, but in my opinion, they look pretty good; I particularly like the proportions of the photo in the bottom right.

The Detroit Free Press offers a brief report, but one with Sweeney's photo. Click here.

According to the Detroit News, Brian Sweeney, 42, will be named the new General Manager of Buick-GMC. Click here.

I'm on the Mark Reuss team. Anyone want to join?

I had been hoping he would be the new General Manager of Buick-GMC. But the whole enchilada is fine, too

"Buick Excelle Hatch - The big picture!"

China Car Times, Nov. 24, 2009

"The Buick Excelle hatch is some serious direct competition to the recently launched VW Golf, and with it being available in hatchback and sedan form, GM might be able to keep up the fight against its largest competitor in the PRC."

For the complete story, including 13 pictures, click here.

Oh no, don't give GM any ideas...

Buick Minneapolis

Buick Eau Claire

Buick St. Paul

Buick Sheboygan

Buick Milwaukee

Buick Racine

Buick Cedar Rapids

Buick Kenosha

The name of the new Buick 5-door sedan in China is... Yinglang. Global Times reports that "The Yinglang model is the Chinese version of the Opel Astra. According to autohome.com, the Yinglang may feature 1.6-liter and 1.8-liter engines, and the luxury model will be loaded with a 1.6T turbocharged engine." For a couple pictures, click here.

Is the current head of GM Europe, Carl-Peter Forster, leaving?

click here

. . . Here is the Turth About Car's update . . .

Whether spelled "Turth" or "Truth About Cars," I wouldn't look to them for anything but negativity about GM. They seem to twist around even the most positive news about GM into something else. Run from them... fast!

If Verano is the Delta2 model's name and they don't want to go with an older name, then they should go with Buick Astra and call it a day.

Perhaps they didn't want "Astra" because it had just been in use by Saturn.

The Chinese Buick Park Avenue is getting new headlights, new wheels, and other minor modifications, according to China Car Times. For pictures, click here.

Here are pictures . . .

PICS:

That hood gap is something awful :sign0200:

Here's one more name Buick had plans for: "Anthem." In "Time for GM to overhaul its culture," written by Daniel Howes of the Detroit News, he says the Buick hybrid crossover recently killed (the "Vuick") was to be called "Anthem."

For the Buick faithful, a poster at GMInsideNews states, according to a recent presentation to dealers, the small premium Buick will be called "Verano" and the baby Enclave will be "Encore."

" . . . As the company says, 'This is the car Pontiac should have made but didn't.'"

Are they claiming that Pontiac should have made it as described in 1969... or 2009?

How would the Pontiac faithful have viewed this car if it came out, as a "retro" design, in 2009?

Could such a car have been sold by GM in 2009 for a reasonable price?

Did Mr. Wangers have to have GM's permission to do this? Is his car a "Pontiac" GTO or just a "GTO"?

DETROIT — General Motors Co. said Tuesday the rollout of its new 2010 Buick LaCrosse is being delayed for a few weeks due to quality concerns.

Speaking to analysts and reporters during a conference call on August sales, GM's vice president of U.S. sales Mark LaNeve said about 300 to 400 of the cars were shipped in August, but further deliveries are on hold until the company works out what it called "quality issues."

The company wouldn't offer specifics on exact problems with the LaCrosse, but LaNeve said they "were not serious but were enough to delay us three or four weeks while we made sure they were fixed so that our customers didn't have any problems."

For the complete story, click here.

Cadillac and Buick took a big hit . . . Corvette was down 82% and is down 56% for the year . . .

Fans of GM and Buick (which leaves you out) understand that, at the present time, Buick has only three vehicles to sell and sorely needs more product - which is on the way. The new models should be fully competitive, as evidenced by the latest launch, the new Buick LaCrosse and its many plaudits. GM is not cutting any other makes; they cut what they wanted to already. From here on, it's build for the future. P.S. - Do you suggest that they drop the Corvette, based on such sales?

option 1a. See the video footage from CBS News that showed the "baby Enclave" in the design studio

it's too good a car to not sell here.

Maybe they'll make it into a big Cadillac?

So Pontiac finally became a global brand, on its deathbed. I'll bet several members are already checing prices on qantas.com for flights to Australia.

No, Pontiac isn't global. These will be sold as Holdens.