carman21

Is there any new or official pics yet?

Grand Am was a decent name. At one time the Trans Am and Grand Am were related. After the Trans Am name faded I guess the Grand Am name became a leftover from the 70s. GM can still bring it back on Epsilon 2 but, I wouldn't be shocked if all Pontiac's main cars get the G? names. Its a shame but, I guess it will work out eventually. Remember that the Pontiac 6000, 3000, etc. were dropped in favor of promoting the Sunbird, Grand Am, Grand Prix, & Bonneville in the early 90s.

SingleStylish, I take no offense to your remarks. I just don't watch desperate housewives period so I wouldn't really know. I am not a TV person. I'm just a car person. Now I do remember something mentioned about a LaCrosse in Desperate Housewives or something perhaps that is what you were talking about?

zoomtm, I can attest that my 2000 Buick Regal is a great car but, for some reason Buick aspires to target Lexus. That's nice. I still say Buick should be the American Toyota of GM. What I mean is that Buick should take what Toyota does good , disregard Japanese quirkiness, add good old American know-how,Buick's luxo features, and do it better. When Buick does that even the import-bias will see a Buick as a great car. While Buick's fans(myself included) already know this,its about time we hammered the truth home on the autobuying public. C&G is a start! :CG_all: Oh Yeah, I like the Buick Lucerne but, I wish it had a 3.6L 240hp V-6(or a 3.9L 240hp V-6) std and a optional 4.6L 290hp V-8. The LaCrosse should be with a 2.8L 210hp V-6(or a 3.5L 210hp V-6) & a 3.6L 260hp V-6. Of course all should have 5-spd autos with availible autoshifts on the CXS models. To be honest I don't think that a Epsilon car could hurt but, perhaps that its too rash for some Buick fans. Well, Buick is a great car, as zoomtm said. I just want to see Buick kick some import ass asap. :)

LOL! Maybe try product placement in the OC. Desperate Housewives. Or other shows that might have a hip, upscale image. I really don't watch TV enough to know what's best. Buick should build great cars that sell themselves rather than be dependent on commercials or product placement to sell cars.

Thanks,Titan. Finally, somebody gets what I'm saying. Yeah, I hope Zeta works out too but, we may as well work with what we know is garanteed. Zeta is still at risk of budget cuts even if it has been greenlighted again. Any product 3 years or more in the future is a mere pipedream until it is officially unveiled.

I guess I struck a nerve with what I said before. Remember I love the Zeta Buick line-up that hopefully will happen. I just getting unerved by the fact that how can buick take on Lexus without hurting Cadillac and how can it be sold with Pontiac(a non-premium brand). Toyota doesn't sell Scion with Lexus for a reason. Buick was a generation ago what Toyota is today, the benchmark of mainstream automobiles. Buick ranked 3rd & 4th regularly in the US sales from 1965-1975. Today Toyota is regularly compared to Buick of old. I think the root of both GM's and Buick's problem is a lack of a clearly competitive vehicle. This means that if you want to compete with apples don't sell oranges. The closest that GM has gotten to a fair comparison to the Camcord was the last gen Malibu. Yet even here GM failed to have a DOHC V-6 to amke the camparison realistic. I'm personally fustrated that many GM fans don't get that many GM products fail to directly meet thier competition. Of course a Grand Prix is not comparable to the Altima. The G6 is also not a direct competitor to the Altima. The answer is to meet the competition then beat thecompetition. Look The last Hyundai Sonata wasn' t quite comparable to the Camry now it is. The problem is GM is still holding on to competing with Ford and Chrysler head to head. Well, guess what Ford & Chrysler aren't stealing your sales. GM needs to 1) Meet the Competition 2) Beat the Competition 3) When you regain leadership then Americanized the standards like Toyota has Japanized the market today. Here is my suggested line-up(I put all of GM' non-lux brands here to give you a sense of what's going on.Again no sport models shown Gamma=G, Delta=D, Epsilon=E, Chi=C. Chevy=Hyundai/Kia/Suzuki Aveo(G166)($9-12k) 1.9L 110hp I-4 2.2L 140hp I-4 Cobalt(D178($12-15k) 2.2L 140hp I-4 2.4L 170hp I-4 Malibu(E190)($15-20k) 2.4L 170hp I-4 3.6L 240hp V-6 Impala(C202)($20-30k) 3.6L 260hp V-6 4.6L 290hp V-8 Pontiac=Mazda/Scion/Honda G2(G166)($10-13k) 1.9L 120hp I-4 2.2L 150hp I-4 G4(D178)(13-17k) 2.2L 150hp I-4 2.4L 180hp I-4 G6(E190)($17-25k) 2.4L 180hp I-4 3.6L 250hp V-6 Saturn=Toyota/Nissan Ion($15-20k)(D178) 2.2L 160hp I-4 2.4L 190hp I-4 Aura($20-30k)(E190) 2.4L 190hp I-4 3.6L 260hp V-6 Evoke($30-40k)(C196) 3.6L 280hp V-6 4.6L 320hp V-8 Buick=VW/Acura Signia(E190)(25-35k)(The name of a 1998 Buick comcept wagon,not a wagon here) 2.4L 200hp I-4 3.6L 280hp V-6 Allure(C196)($35-45k)(Canadian for LaCrosse) 3.6L 300hp V-6 4.8L 350hp V-8 Lucerne(C208)($45-55k)(Think A Buick Deville) 4.8L 350hp V-8 4.8L 400hp V-8 Of course DOD,direct injection, 5/6spd autos, & hybrids will make GM the leader in the industry. Buick should never be a me-too brand, never! Buick should be the glimpse into the future of the everyday automobile of the days to come. Buick should "Dream Up" . Well, is this better or worse? I think its the best non-sigma/zeta line-up possible. Of course Zeta & Sigma will make this rendering irrelevent. I'm all for RWD but, it good to set low expectations now in order to love the results. I know GM will deliver.This is the best worst case scenario.

That is one unnerving thing about all the great news over the next Malibu. I may negate the need for a large midsize car. If there is to be an Impala it better be on Chi & it better be a good true full-size car. A Malibu flagship isn't so bad if you consider how well Honda does with the Accord as its car flagship. I don't think Chevy should do it but, it can happen.So, pray GM doesn't get Honda-ish with Chevy's cars. This Impala is good enough for now. I'll buy one. The SS V-8 is impressive with 20/28MPG. I also don't think that the Impala competes realistically with the Camcord. The Camcord is much smaller and altogether different.

Despite Bob Lutz touting Buick as an American Lexus. I think GM is killing the idea of Buick as a luxury brand like Lexus below Cadillac. Zeta was cancelled because, GM did not see RWD having much of a future beyond Cadillac & sports cars. When GM made the annoucement about Zeta's demise in NA, GM was falling on hard financial times again. So, GM wanted to look as if it were cutting costs. Which was true but, it also had to do with a rejection of any brand brand but, Cadillac going mainstream with RWD. This is not to say that Buick won't have RWD. It just won't be beyond halo vehicles. So, what is Buick likely to be then. Well, Buick will be the most premium non-luxury brand in the US market. Think some where between VW, Acura, & Lexus. Audi-like interiors, Lexus-like quality, class-leading performance, & Velite-inspired style. This is Buick in the 21st century. This doesn't include High performance GS versions. Skylark(Delta 184;$17-25k) 1.9L 160hp I-4 2.4L 205hp I-4 LaCrosse(Epsilon 196;$25-35k) 2.4L 205hp I-4 3.6L 305hp V-6(AWD) Lucerne(Chi 208;$35-45k) 3.6L 305hp V-6(AWD) 4.8L 410hp V-8(AWD) Riviera(Sigma 196;$45-60k)2 or 4door coupe/hard top convrtYes a 4dr cnvrt hardtop 4.8L 410hp V-8 Rendevous(Theta 196;$25-35k)5-pass suv 2.4L 200hp I-4 3.6L 305hp V-6 Centieme(Lambda 208;$35-45k)6-pass suv 3.6L 305hp V-6 4.8L 410hp V-8 The hp figures are achieved by Direct injection and advanced VVT systems. DOD willl be used in concourse with advanced hybrid systems & CVTs to achieve currently unachievable MPG ratings. I'd guess at least 40 MPG city on the 3.6L V-6, 30 on the V-8 and 50 or even 60 on the 2.4L better than 60 on the 1.9L. Gotta love technology, huh? Well, thats all I got say. So, what do you think.

Who cares about Toyota really? Big deal 12 months from two years. GM has gone from 7 years to 3 in less than 5 years, by 2010 GM will be at or above Toyota's development time. Toyota is also slow to react to American tastes in vehicles. They took a decade to produce a full-size SUV that didn't match-up to domestics. The Sequoia has the worst MPG of any V-8 in its class and the least std HP. A joke for a continously improoving automaker. Hey, I admire Toyota's leadership but, it is a farse. Toyota will soon be exposed. GM and Ford are learning fast and they are big enough to blow the pants off Toyota. Remember Toyota's success is based less on kaizen and more on that GM & Ford sit on the sidelines as Toyota blows past. Well, GM & Ford have been warming up for 5 years I think its time Toyota is taught how the game is really played.

The new Aveo is very nice and will compete well against the also nice Honda Fit. The Toyota Yaris is gonna fail big time. Go GM, Daewoo is really great.

Looks nice.

I was checking out a great car book today. The Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975. The Olds 98 back then was priced above the Buick Electra. I thought Buick was above Olds. The Olds must have compteted on some level with the Lincoln Continental. I really think that may have been Olds & Buick's key to success provide Lincoln levels of luxury at Mercury Prices. Cadillac was #1 in luxury because, Ford's Continental luxury brand and Chrysler's Imperial luxury brand were short lived and never really had the aura that a Cadillac does. Who said that something was the Continental or Imperial of something, nobody. Only the word Cadillac means the best. The Olds 98 was the greatest of Oldsmobiles working man's limosines. I sure hope that we can see something like that from Buick or Saturn in the future. It is a shame that there will never be a new Oldsmobile 98. But thats history no use being upset since we couldn't do anything anyway.

I think Suzuki is getting the majority of the benefits from Daewoo many see Suzuki as the next Hyundai. Suzuki wants to grow to 250k by 2008 according to the latest Motor Trend.

I'm not in the know but, MT Classic came out with their first issue and they claimed that Ford had Ford=Chevy/Plymouth, Mercury=Pontiac/Dodge, Edsel=Olds/DeSoto, Lincoln=Buick/Chrysler, & Continental=Cadillac/Imperial. If this is true then that explains why Lincoln competes more with Buick than Caddy. It appears Chrysler fell far since then. Why does GMC need a Lambda Wagon when Buick & Saturn already will? I thought GMC was being brought into the fold of Buick-Pontiac-GMC. Wouldn't Chevy deserve one more? Chevy could find use for a large wagon/crossover abvove the Equinox. I know GMC is a great brand but, I'd divide it between Buick & Saturn.

I love my 2000 Regal LS. Why doesn't Buick have CX, CXL, CXS, GS(high-perf), Ultra(high-lux)? Well, thats all I got to say for now.

The RAV4 is the best looking RAV4 yet but, the Yaris is ugly. I think Toyota is finding the formula but, losing it at the same time. They must not be getting it in the first place. They are just getting lucky.