Chicagoland

Here is a quote from Automotive News: "Excelle: China's redesigned compact sedan debuts there [not here] in late 2008 or early 2009. The car will be built on GM's new global front-drive vehicle architecture, called Alpha, being developed in Germany." "GM insiders say the Excelle is being considered for the United States. The car likely would be exported here [from China], a GM source says. The new small Buick sedan is similar in size to the Toyota Corolla."

For a short time, the 81-82 Impala with this motor was called 'America's lowest priced diesel!' C&D had a long term 1981 Grand Prix diesel, and they basically didn't like it, but didn't hate it either. It took longer to rack up miles since staffers didnt want to drive it. Reality is these 1980's oil burners are best remembered for how not to design them!

Automotive New today, in the Future Plans - GM article dismisses mid engine rumours for the C7. They also say it will be a '13 model year car.

Yeah, but are they as bad as you think? Korean cars are stealing Euro customers, with gas so high there. GM cant sell lots of Impalas or Tahoes there.

The first GP's were based on full sized Pontiacs, and shared some sheet metal with Bonnevilles and Catalinas. The 1969 was the first with a unique body. But, as a kid, just like the GTO, it was cool to see the "hot" versions of regular Pontiacs. The 1990-96 GP sedans [6000 replacement] are the 'low point' and the 1981-83 diesel version, too.

This shows that in reality, the Imperial name is essentially forgotten. The last two versions were j-u-n-k. While some on here think the answer is "all RWD V8 cars for sale", the world has moved on from 1958.

I think the 2004-05 and 2008 Chevy Classic fleet queens should been called 'Corsica'. 'Classic' is overused, and is really meant for old true classic cars.

I see more of them driven by suburban women/moms, not the 'Roseanne Barr' types, but more the 'modern Mrs Brady'.

I agree the days of selling cheap Centurys to drivers who never go over 45mph are long over. They would say "I got a Buick for a Chevy price", but then the Century was just a Lumina with more chrome. No one under 71 really admired the cars. And the super old 1990's A bodies certainly hurt the brand more, with it's Chevy Citation chassis that should have died with day-glo shorts. The interiors were like a nursing home waiting room, too.

Yay Sebring, lots of Sun Belt rental agencies wanted new drop tops! "I see lots of Pacificas in Florida". Umm, FL is a huge rental market. Also, FL is not the entire US!

Yes, the new CUV's look like real luxury products, and seen some driven by '30-somethings'. The Enclave makes the Rendevous look like an old UPS truck.

Last month, the 'hatahs' were claiming the new Sentra's styling doomed it to failure, now they are picking crow meat from their teeth.

I p-o'ed some BON naysayers pointing out that the Escape and Edge were not 'flops' as predicted. [The newer Escape would fail since it had same greenhouse and rear drums, the Edge was 'not good enough' and would tank] Of course they had to attack the 'messager' since they can't handle the truth, they were w-r-o-n-g! I think was really got them mad was the fact that the MKZ is a hit, and the overrated, fat, boring, and lame LS was not!

It's too far away, anything can happen by then. Look at old 'future cars' articles and get some good laughs.

The Nova based Skylarks in the late 70's were renames of the 73-75 Apollo, and forgettable. The A bodied 'Larks from 65-72 were way better and more collectable. Anyway, like the 2010 Camaro, I will believe it when it's for sale in dealers.

"it looks foreign... " You win! It looks imported, then better to get the 'it has to be foreign or nothing' buyers.

Well, sure the Turbo Regals were desirable, but then GM killed them off by 1988? The other Buicks in 1986 were the FWD J, N, C and H bodies. Also, it was the first of the small Rivieras, remember? Some who were kids back then, or not born yet, think that Buick made all RWD Regals. But none of the 1986 FWD cars will ever be 'collectable'.

"Looks" are not everything in the sedan market. Ask any Camry owner and they will simply say 'my car looks nice', not "fantastic"! Quality, value, economy, and overall performance are alot more important to many buyers then "it looks great!"

"given Toyota goes with the standard 5-year lifespan..." Usually, but this current Corolla platform has been extended a year, so an "all new one" is coming for 2009 MY. No intro date set yet. New Vibe? No official yay or nay yet.

The Pentastar reminds me of the 1960's heyday, when the star was introduced. I do agree it should be the logo for Chrysler LLC, not brand.

Now have to rename this the "Chysler LLC Forums", and move MB to Euro Cars.

Well, why the Maxima was smaller than Altima for awhile, and what happened to the 4DSC?? Ahem, way back in the 90's, Toyota and Honda decided to make "compact" Cam-Cords bigger, and creamed the old smaller Altimas in sales. And the "4DSC" also took a hit, since many older buyers simply wanted quality and ride comfort. So, in came Carlos Ghon speeding up to 2002 the new mid sized car to compete. But, there was no name decide yet. Nissan had 3 choices [these were posted in Automotive News, you know a newsapaper like your parents read] Anyway, the new 2002 mid-sized car was to be: A. All Maximas, with 4 and 6 cyl motors. B. The base $ cyl cars are Altima, and the V6 is the Max. C. The new car line is Altima; keep the older Maxima and load it with features. guess which one they picked? So, the 4DSC was out classed and out-sized by other makes, and had to be upsized. People can argue all day what is a "true" Maxima, but IMHO, it should be Nissan's flagship as the Avalon is for Brand T.

Should stay and fight. OTOH: [this is sarcasm, so no fits of fury please] Import nameplates sell, look at Hyundai. I have heard of many poeople picking them because they are one, even though they made crap before. Ford can change name to "Volvo Motors", and GM can just say "GM China" since eventaully most of their sales will come form there! Then dealers can say "we are foreign too, so we have the 'quality' you expect"!

The new Lancer is finally not a cheap, dated looking compact. The old Lancer still looked like a 1988 generic Asian econobox

Ford quit making and dumping Tauruses into fleets, a money losing business. As a result, they lost less $$ then exepected in Q1 2007. Sure, they should be making $$$, but the whole idea of fleet dumping to "pad the sales #'s" is dead, dead, dead.