Beijing: Buick Invicta Concept revealed

[AdmiralViscen]

Will buy.

They'd better call it Invicta.

What is MSRP expected to be? Direct MKZ/ES350 competition or mid/high 20s?

[2648562]

Why are they even revealing this concept now? Production is right around the corner. And from what we've seen, it's not going to be anywhere near as nice as the concept.
GM should go back to the wild concepts. They're building concepts like they ought to be building cars and the stuff they end up building is a total letdown. Why tease us like this?

[Hoosier Red]

That thing is hot! Beautiful car. I'd have no problem as a 38 year old putting that in my driveway. I love the CTS, but this gives me a reason to consider Buick. That would be a great daily driver next to my Corvette and the wife's Enclave.

[TriShield]

I'm extremely underwhelmed. They took the Opel Insignia, gave it a nip and tuck and stuck a Buick badge on it.

It does nothing to address Buick's fundamental problem of being irrelevent in the US market. Young people may agree that it and the Enclave look nice but none of us are honestly going to spend our money on one.

Buick should be a Chinese-only brand because that's who for all intents and purposes makes and runs the brand now. At least when our grandparents buy this thing we won't feel that they completely wasted their money on it like the grey plastic Buicks of a decade ago.

[TriShield]

Originally Posted by GM-Joe

Buick is beginning to look very Lexus, very Japanese, which is how it should work. Their market share losses have been to Lexus, thus they be one of their main competitors.

Lexus and the German automakers helped destroy Cadillac, GM's constantly stream of crappy car to Buick destroyed that brand as well as the core market for the brand.

Buick shouldn't look like Lexus, Lexus is already here and does Lexus better than anyone. Buick should be Buick of it's heyday.

That's the core problem with GM putting fourth the idea of "remaking" their brnads in the image of foreign brands. The foreign brands already do it better and none of GM's brand will ever be them. People liked GM's brand because they did their thing better than anyone else at one time.

[Andonis]

not crazy about the exterior, not bad, could've been a bit sleeker, but the interior is very good looking to my taste

[I-Love-Pontiac]

Originally Posted by TriShield

I'm extremely underwhelmed. They took the Opel Insignia, gave it a nip and tuck and stuck a Buick badge on it.

Lmao... oh wow.

That statement might make sense when the production version comes out, but as far as this concept... it has very little in common with the Insignia. The hood is higher. The belt line is higher. The greenhouse is stretched out. The wheelbase is longer. The back end is flatter and more squared. The only thing I see that these two cars have in common is their general size.

[Andonis]

Originally Posted by 2648562

Why are they even revealing this concept now? Production is right around the corner. And from what we've seen, it's not going to be anywhere near as nice as the concept.
GM should go back to the wild concepts. They're building concepts like they ought to be building cars and the stuff they end up building is a total letdown. Why tease us like this?

Totally agreed!!!!!

[coaster.n3rd]

Originally Posted by TriShield

It does nothing to address Buick's fundamental problem of being irrelevent in the US market. Young people may agree that it and the Enclave look nice but none of us are honestly going to spend our money on one.

Enclave sits on lots an average of 40 days, not only that they lowered their average buying age with the Enclave and the Enclave alone. Maybe you won't buy one, but speak for yourself.

[Exploder]

Don't worry, there's just no pleasing some people. No pleasing at all.

[American_Muscle]

wow...just wow.

[MonaroSS]

Below is a comparison between parts of the concept and the production prototype. I thought I would explain why they are different and what it may mean for how much of the concepts design makes it to production.

If you look at the red arrow on the concepts inset pic of the A pillar you will see that the line next to the windscreen is sharp, making the A pillar slab sided. But if you look at the red arrow on the A pillar on the prototype on the trailer you will see that the A pillar is curved and rounded like most cars. This is because, especially with CAFÉ, you need the best aerodynamics for low fuel use.

We know with the Volt concept that it was made before going in the wind tunnel and they have had to change a lot. The same with this concept. As wind piles up as it runs into the windscreen and forms a high-pressure zone then it must move around the windscreen. Some goes up over the roof and the rest goes around the sides.

So a high-pressure stream of air has to pass across the A pillar at high speed from the windscreen side to the side windows. If this is rounded then the air moves smoothly and maintains it's laminar flow, meaning that it doesn't break up and start to tumble and cause eddies and turbulence, which saps fuel economy. But if the edge is sharp then it's like falling over a small waterfall, and just like the water bubbles and boils around turbulently under a waterfall, so too would air over that concept's sharp A pillar.

The problem is that if they smooth that off, as they have done, then what of the sharp raised ridge on the bonnet which the A pillar flows into and which the portholes are on the inside edge of? Will they be softened and rounded too - probably. They may even have to reposition the portholes.

If we look at the inset of the concepts grille and compare it to the prototypes grille we see under the red arrows that the top of the grille bars sit out much further on the concept than on the production prototype. This is again due to airflow. Those 'teeth' like tops of the grille on the concept would be like forcing air through a comb, it would cause a break-up of the laminar flow needed. The prototypes much smoother softer grille will interfere with airflow much less and get better fuel economy.

The sharp edge at the top of the lights may also have to be rounded more in the name of good aerodynamics and fuel economy.

Just though I’d share these little interesting facts.

[TriShield]

Originally Posted by coaster.n3rd

Enclave sits on lots an average of 40 days, not only that they lowered their average buying age with the Enclave and the Enclave alone. Maybe you won't buy one, but speak for yourself.

The average age of a Buick buyer is still 65. I don't see anyone but retirees buying them here. The very same people that bought Park Avenues and Lucernes. I highly doubt I'll ever see someone in their 20s actually buy one.

It's also interesting to note that despite the "hot" Enclave Buick sold under 200,000 vehicles last year and has dropped 50% in the last five years.

I also expect the sales of the Enclave to drop off once Buick's core group all gets theirs, just like what happened to Buick's last "great" SUV the Rendezvous.

This car isn't any different and won't change anyones mind in the US nor will it help Buick's image. It's also lacks about half of the Enclave's personality to boot.

[Andonis]

Originally Posted by johnstarnes

Nice looking but I had really hoped that the front end would closely reflect the unique sculpting of the Riviera since news releases kept referring to the Invicta as being "inspired" by the Riviera. This is so much tamer than both the Velite and Riviera. But it IS an improvement over the lame LaCrosse and Lucerne for sure. A shame though that Buick keeps showing off lovely concepts then not building them. I wonder if THIS 'concept' will be watered down come production time?

i see no Riviera in this either. but even so, this should already be the production version.

[coaster.n3rd]

Originally Posted by TriShield

Lexus and the German automakers helped destroy Cadillac, GM's constantly stream of crappy car to Buick destroyed that brand as well as the core market for the brand.

Then the CTS came out and did a damn good job in making the germans and Lexus rethink what they are doing. Same thing will probably happen with the DTS/STS replacement.

Originally Posted by TriShield

Buick shouldn't look like Lexus, Lexus is already here and does Lexus better than anyone. Buick should be Buick of it's heyday.

Buick in its' heyday is what Lexus is today. Your point cancels itself out.

Originally Posted by TriShield

That's the core problem with GM putting fourth the idea of "remaking" their brnads in the image of foreign brands. The foreign brands already do it better and none of GM's brand will ever be them. People liked GM's brand because they did their thing better than anyone else at one time.

Benchmarking, without it we would have nothing but mediocre vehicles to choose from any brand. GM is agin doing it better than anyone else. Malibu is far superior in almost every aspect to Camry/Accord/Altima/Fusion and especially Sebring. CTS goes without saying, Enclave, Hybrid Tahoe. GM doesn't just match the competition, it trumps them.

Your opinion is against the popular buying habit on almost everything. I guess you're just a unique snowflake that will make very uneducated guesses as to how things should be done, then, someone here will refute your self proclaimed expertise and you run off without an inkling of response.

Your consistent bashing of a product that is vastly superior to your failed GTO is getting old and boring. Give it up. Even the commenters at Jalopnik think you're a joke.