smk4565

Also absurd is dual exhaust on a car with an inline 4 cylinder.

I give them credit for realizing that what Buick is/was, the big soft geezer cars like the LeSabre and Lucerne weren't working anymore, and that the market for big soft cars is pretty much gone. But I think making "sporty" Buicks doesn't make a lot of sense. It is like Mazda making a car like the Lucerne, it doesn't fit with their image. You can't be sporty on one car, and soft and floaty on the next.

A4? The Regal isn't a small car and it isn't $35,000. My mom drives an A4, never in her lifetime would she step foot in a Buick dealership. The Regal is the replacement to the G6/Aura, that is their target market. But my point is why is Buick making a sports minded car, when they are supposed to be soft, quiet, luxury. The Enclave and LaCrosse are at least roomy, have lots of creamy/beige colors, wood (or faux wood) trim and are quiet and soft riding. They fit Buick's image, the Regal does not.

That is more boring than the Saturn Aura. Question is, why is Buick building a "sport sedan" (with 4 cylinders no less)? Isn't Buick supposed to be luxury? Even with 4 brands, GM can't get any brand focus. Buick building "sport sedan" import fighters that would have been Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs or Saturns in the past isn't a good brand strategy. If they want sports sedans, then Buick should have died, and Pontiac should have stayed. Regal will get quickly lost in the shuffle with the Altima, Mazda6, Milan/Fusion, etc.

But the Lexus HS250 starts at $34k, it is their second cheapest model. So they are making a trade-off, less performance than most $35k cars, but better gas mileage than all of them. If the Converj was the same price as a CTS, then Cadillac could sell some, because some people will want the green factor and not care about loss of performance. I just fear the Converj will be $55,000 and people won't pay that much just to have a "green" car. The Escalade Hybrid doesn't sell for example, price premium isn't worth it.

Part of me thinks the Converj needs to be electric only with no gas engine. Just increase battery capacity, add a solar panel roof, etc so it is more like the Tesla cars. But the problem of being built on the Delta platform still remains. If the CTS offers better acceleration, handling, braking, ride, etc and costs $20,000 or so less, why buy the Converj? No one is going to pay $50-60,000 for a front drive, small car. Front wheel drive is inferior to rear wheel drive. Makes you wonder why Cadillac is going to have the SRX, XTS, Converj, and Lambda Escalade, that is a lot of front wheel drive, sounds like Lincoln or Acura.

Success will depend on the motor. If the Converj has the same motors at the Volt, it is Cimmarron 2 at $50k or more, which is a losing formula.

Why does the interior look like it came from a Mazda or Mitsubishi? They have made a more Asian looking Cruze, and it doesn't look at all luxurious. GM keeps saying Buick is a luxury brand, but the interior of this looks like a Lancer or Mazda 3 and not like a Lexus or Lincoln. And who are they kidding with that spoiler. First off it is a Buick, it shouldn't have a spoiler, secondly, it is front drive, a rear spoiler on a front wheel drive car makes no sense.

Terrain is ugly. But if you need awd, there is the Fusion, Taurus, MKZ, MKS, Milan, Impreza, Legacy/Outack, SX4, Lancer/Evo, CTS, 3-series, C-class, G37, TL, RL, 5-series, E-class, 300, Charger, A3, A4, A5, A6, TT, IS, GS, STS, 9-3, S40, V50, V70, S80, Passat, Matrix, LaCrosse, M35x, and Nissan GT-R.

I tend to think the opposite about an SUV in Pittsburgh. Because we have so many hills and windy roads, I think a car is better. The engine has to work more to lug an SUV up a hill, and they body roll more in turns. But SUVs are terribly over rated in my opinion, cars are faster, handle better, ride better, brake better, steer better. Even here we have bad snow maybe 5 times a year, and the other 360 days you don't need awd. And if you think you actually need awd, then there must be 50 cars that offer it

CTS dropped 27%, 3-series dropped 9%. 3-series dropped 800 units, CTS dropped 1,000 units. The 3-series is still the #1 selling luxury car.

A problem GM has is after products are on the market a couple years they tend to drop a lot. CTS is no different. When it was brand new, and they advertised it a lot, it sold, then it gets a little dated, ads slow down and sales drop. The winners are the Lambdas, SRX/Terrain/Equinox and 2010 LaCrosse, but look at how bad the old Equinox/Torrent and LaCrosse were. Question is how will the Equinox or LaCrosse be selling in 3 years when the initial buzz is gone. The challenge is to build a car that car sell well for 5 or 6 years in a row. CTS sales don't surprise me at all. When it came out I said the car was too big/heavy to perform with a 3-series, and the interior/equipment/materials aren't as good as the A6 or 5-series. Plus Cadillac's image isn't as good as the Germans or Lexus.

This company is a disaster, I can't believe people actually buy things like a Dodge Journey or a Chrysler Sebring when there are at least 5 much better options in their same class. Chrysler is currently the Sebring, 300 and Town and Country. Why even bother, especially when all 3 have a Dodge clone.

3-series outsold the Cobalt and Aveo combined. And GM delayed the Cruze? The crossover sales were strong, this is GM's biggest strength right now. But will GM focus on SUVs again and ignore cars like they did in 2002-2005, because SUV trends come and go, small and midsize car sales are always there.

They are having a strong year. Hyundai us a company to be reckoned with, it will be interesting to see where they are in 20 years.

X3 sales are a problem, a small crossover should sell better than that. BMW prices are pretty high, they probably will post a nice profit at the end of the year because of that. Volume may not be great, but the mark-up on the cars is.

But this isn't apples to apples because of the different drivers. If I go out in a CTS-V having never driven the car or not knowing the track, and race Michael Shumacher in Mercedes E350, he'd beat me despite having half the horsepower. They need the same person driving the CTS-V and the M3 to get a really good comparison.

The problem with this is it is testing who is the best driver. Because Heinricy is obviously much better than Lutz. What they need is to put every car in the hands of The Stig and then see which one has the best time.

It better get more than 32 mpg, otherwise people will get a Fusion Hybrid or Prius. The Prius gets a combined 50 mpg, that is the number the Volt has to beat when burning gas. If they can get 40 miles off electric, then 50+ when burning gas, they have something they can sell. Basically, the Volt has to be a better deal than a Malibu + $15,000 for gasoline.

There is an base model with a BMW V8 making 470 hp also, but even that is close to $400k. Awesome looking car though.

Audi's aren't supposed to be flashy like a Cadillac or Mercedes. Many people like the conservative, contemporary look, and want a more understated luxury car. Plus less flashy looking cars to to age well, compared to Chrysler products that look dated after 2-3 years on market. Audi wouldn't be my first choice, but I can see why a lot of people like them. We still don't really know if the Regal is meant to compete with the Fusion Sport, Mazda 6 and Altima (sportier), or the Camry, Sonata and Milan (the softer cars).

Because a TL is more expensive than a LaCrosse, and the Regal is "a few thousand less" than the LaCrosse. It's the same reason the Malibu or Aura with a v6 didn't compete with Acura. The CTS competes with the Acura TL. But I agree the TL is hideous looking.

They aren't going to put a high pressure turbo 4 in a Buick. The fuel efficiency isn't great, and 290 hp turbo in a front drive car is going to lead to horrible torque steer. This car is taking the place of the G6 and Aura and will be lucky to get more than 220 hp in top level trim. Look at the engine downsizing going on at GM right now. The Equinox was V6 only, now it will be mostly 4-cylinder, with a 3.0 liter as the top engine (they used to offer the 3.6). Buicks used to have the 3800, even V8s in the LaX and Lucerne Super, but soon the 3.6 will be the biggest Buick engine with the 3.0 and 4 cylinders making up the bulk of sales. GMC had the Envoy with the 4.2 I6 and 5.3 V8, gone and replaced by the 4 cylinder Terrain and 3.6 V6 Acadia. On to Cadillac, SRX V8, dead, now a 3.0 is the biggest SRX engine. XTS is rumored as V6 only (Northstar V8 gone). Basically, GM vehicles that had V8s 5-10 years ago, now have the 3.6 V6 (Cadillacs, SUVs, top end Buick). And the middle range GM cars that used to have V6s (Nox, Malibu, Regal, etc) now have 4-bangers. We are going to see small to midsize being 4-cylinders, with the 3.6 V6 in the 2010s being like what the Northstar was in the 1990s. The 3.6 will be reserved for Cadillac and full sizer vehicles like the Lambdas.

You'd think GM would have learned by now, but they seem to have a desire to keep repeating the same mistake. Oldsmobile was to be the import fighter, it went out of business Catera was an Opel for the U.S., it was a bust GTO was imported for the U.S., it was a bust Saturn Astra was in imported Opel, it was a bust Saturn Aura was inspired by Opel, another bust Saturn became the import fighter, went out of business Pontiac G8 was imported, slow sales and Pontiac went out of business. So now Buick is the import fighter and getting cars from Opel, gee I wonder what will happen to Buick in 4 years.

No, It couldn't pass for an Audi. Audi's do not have tacky shark tooth looking vents up front, or flashy body cladding. Audi's are more understated, elegant and classy looking. To me Audi's are a little bland, except for the A5, but a lot of people like a luxury car that isn't flashy and looks like a grown up's car. The Insignia OPC, much like the G6 GXP, looks like it should be in a fast and furious movie.