Buick Lineup expanding

[civilzues]

BUICK LINEUP TO EXPAND
http://www.leftlanenews.com/buick-pl...expansion.html

General Motors’ Buick brand has been left to wither on the vine for the past few decades, but the Detroit automaker is planning to give the 101 year old marque new life as it consolidates to just four core brands.

The beginning of Buick’s transformation can already be seen in the form of the Enclave and all-new 2010 LaCrosse, but even more changes are in store for the next few years.

On tap for 2012 will be a replacement for Buick’s again Lucerne. According to Motor Trend, the current Lucerne will continue through the 2010 model year before disappearing for 2011. The Lucerne will resurface for the 2012 model year, riding on a Holden-developed ‘Super’ Epsilon platform. The Super Epsilon platform will be longer and wider than the Epsilon platform underpinning the new LaCrosse, and should also offer the option for all-wheel drive.

Following closely on the heels of the new LaCrosse, Buick is planning to launch a new version of its popular Enclave crossover for the 2013 model year. The Enclave’s ’13 update is expected to be fairly extensive, but look for GM to position the Enclave above similar crossovers from Chevrolet and GMC.

more at the link posted above

[PA Dweller]

I am confused, isn't the LaCrosse supposed to replace the Lucerne as Buick's large sedan?

[1G6]

I hope this is true. The new LaCrosse is terrific, but it's entirely too small to be a proper top-of-the-range Buick.

[megeebee]

Holden has been engineering a "Super" Epsilon FWD platform?????

Is this true?

.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by PA Dweller

I am confused, isn't the LaCrosse supposed to replace the Lucerne as Buick's large sedan?

I guess Lucerne will live on as Buick's flagship.

How long is the LaCrosse? Lucerne's going to be huge if LaCrosse is as big as I'm thinking.

[MonaroSS]

interesting

[NINETY_EIGHT_REGENCY]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

I guess Lucerne will live on as Buick's flagship.

How long is the LaCrosse? Lucerne's going to be huge if LaCrosse is as big as I'm thinking.

The 2010 La Crosse is a 197 inches long.

The Lucerne (current) is 203.2 inches long

[dindak]

Lucerne needs a 3.6L base engine and a 6 speed ASAP.

Glad to see a new Lucerne is on the way!

[PA Dweller]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

I guess Lucerne will live on as Buick's flagship.

How long is the LaCrosse? Lucerne's going to be huge if LaCrosse is as big as I'm thinking.

I guess this is a good thing, as we can see even the new LaCrosse isn't as big as the outgoing Lucerne.

Originally Posted by NINETY_EIGHT_REGENCY

The 2010 La Crosse is a 197 inches long.

The Lucerne (current) is 203.2 inches long

[Jimmy Jive]

Originally Posted by megeebee

Holden has been engineering a "Super" Epsilon FWD platform?????

Is this true?

.

The Holden connection perked my interest too. Maybe they're giving their expertise into the engineering and handling of a car the size of a Senator. As once Zeta goes away they're going to need a car big enough to replace the Senator? (Smaller Alpha will cover Commodore naturally)

All I know is it appears XTS is going to have a brother...

EDIT: Ok, now I've read XTS will be a smaller ES fighter. And there's a whole thread dedicated to the super epsilon. Doy.

[Exploder]

I would have preferred they use the Roadmaster or Park Avenue nameplate, but I don't think "Lucerne" is so bad now having learned it's derived from French and is the name of several small towns...just makes it more acceptable to me for some reason.

And I hope it's RWD. This Super Epsilon is indeed real, is it?

[ksr]

I think "Lucerne" has a nice, upscale, Buicky kind of sound.

I hope they expand the lineup. They really need to. Without Pontiac, B-P-G dealers are going to need more than a three-vehicle Buick lineup to succeed.

[nadepalma]

To add to the discussion, there are other articles on this as well. Please take a look at the pieces below:

SOURCE: Motor Trend

Buick Future Car Plans
Bigger, Just Not as Bright, as Five Years Ago
July 06, 2009
By Todd Lassa



Buick's 2004 New York International Auto Show concept was a breath of fresh air from General Motors, which to that point had let the brand that launched the company in 1908 become the car for old people and their parents. Former Porsche designer Sun Yup Lee drew the Buick Velite concept, with inspiration from Harley Earl's 1938 Buick Y-Job, the '53 Skylark, and '63 and '71 Rivieras.

General Motors planned a new Chrysler 300-beating, rear-drive four-door sedan based on the Velite's styling for the 2008 model year. Too many things got in the way. GM already was bleeding too much cash to fund all the programs it initiated in the early and middle part of the decade. Then came Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards uncertainty, fueled by California's waiver, followed by $4-per-gallon gas, then by the credit crisis, finally leading to GM's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

With GM's eight brands about to be pared down to four "core" North American divisions, Buick (with GMC on the truck side) must fill the middle ground between Chevrolet and Cadillac. For most of the last century, Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac filled that space, which has narrowed significantly in the last 40 years.

On June 1, GM Executive Director for Global Market and Industry Analysis Mike DiGiovanni said the Buick lineup will grow significantly. GM wants to make sure it doesn't lose Pontiac buyers to other brands. While we here at Motor Trend think highly of the Pontiac G8 and Solstice for the most part, the G6 sedan and coupe have been the bread-and-butter of Pontiac, and the Chevrolet Malibu ought to capture most of those buyers. Some Pontiac buyers are interested only in "middle" divisions, though, and Mercury's Milan has much the same demographic as the Pontiac G6.

For the coming decade, North American Buicks look to be front-drive based, sharing platforms with Chevrolet and Opel. From top to bottom, here's how it's shaping up.

2012 Lucerne Replacement

The 2010 model year will be Lucerne's last. Model year '11 will be an "interim" drop, with a replacement appearing for '12 on a new, large "Super" Epsilon front-wheel-drive platform GM Australia is developing to complement its heavy, rear-drive Zeta architecture. Australian Epsilon is wider and longer than the Epsilon II platform. The Zeta VE architecture -- Holden Commodore and ex-Pontiac G8 -- could carry through two more iterations. Australian Epsilon will cannibalize Commodore sales, but at least Holden can hold off Toyota with the new, large platform, which will likely be a 4WD car in Australia -- Holden reportedly wants to hedge its bets against losing the RWD performance and towing capacity that Commodore has.

2013 Enclave

The successful Enclave crossover is scheduled for a major change for the '13 model year, although GM's financial problems have caused many of its new model programs to slip. Enclave proves that GM can separate brands that share common architecture. With its distinctive sheetmetal, higher standard kit and richer interior, the Enclave has a higher base price than the Chevrolet Traverse/Saturn Outlook/GMC Acadia. The average Enclave is sold with more optional equipment than GM's marketing mavens expected.

2010 LaCrosse

Just introduced, it's really a near-full-size competitor for the Lexus ES 350 as well as the new 2010 Ford Taurus. While the LaCrosse shares the Epsilon II platform and its 73.1-inch width with the '09 Opel Insignia, the Buick is 197 inches long to the Opel's 190.2 inches, with a 111.7-inch wheelbase to the Insignia's 107.8 inches. Buick just announced a direct-injected 2.4-liter Ecotec four will be added to the LaCrosse lineup. Let's hope this is not leading to a slippery slope in which a base, four-cylinder LaCrosse is just a few hundred dollars more than a base, four-cylinder Malibu.

New Regal?

The Opel Insignia, which by happy accident has voluptuous, organic styling cues like a classic Buick, and has an interior as rich as the new LaCrosse, is built with minor trim changes and a new grille as the Buick Regal in China. If built here as a Buick (a recent report suggests a U.S. market Regal will eventually be built in Canada), its smaller size suggests it would slot in below the new LaCrosse, which means that it would encroach on Chevy Malibu's demographics. New GM CEO Fritz Henderson claims that won't happen; that the four core North American brands will have distinct personalities. One alternative would be to use the next-generation Opel Insignia -- assuming GM still has control over the German brand -- as the next LaCrosse and reskin the LaCrosse in a few years as the Lucerne replacement. Another would be to sell the Regal here with only one engine option, the 2.0-liter turbo four Henderson has promised for the LaCrosse, and sell it as a high-content sport sedan in the Buick lineup.


MORE ON PAGE 3 AT Motor Trend

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

SOURCE: MotorAuthority

Future Buicks: small cars, front-drivers, and four-cylinders ahead
July 7, 2009
by Marty Padgett

With GM sailing off into the future minus a handful of brands--Saturn, HUMMER, Saab and Pontiac among them--Buick counts itself as one of the lucky nameplates in the new GM.

What's next? A compact Buick lineup of four or five vehicles, with more compact dimensions and smaller engines than fans of the classic Buick V-8s might expect, according to Motor Trend.

Buick's future centers around a trio of core products already in its showroom, and one or two more to come. Today's lineup counts the 2010 Buick LaCrosse as its mainstream sedan; the Enclave as its big crossover; and the Lucerne as its traditional full-size sedan.

In two years, the lineup will be slightly bigger, with a few additions. Motor Trend speculates that a few new vehicles are headed to the lineup:

2012 Buick Lucerne: a replacement for this full-size front-drive sedan is on the way. The most likely scenario is for a new four-door with all-wheel drive, built off a common platform with a new Cadillac sedan and a new Chevrolet Impala. There will be no 2011 Lucerne. The new car will be developed as an extension of the current "Epsilon" platform that underpins the new LaCrosse. An assembly-plant home in Ontario is likely, too.

2013 Buick Enclave: a revamped version of this new vehicle has been spotted on CBS News of all places, in clay prototype form. The new version will carry on largely in its current format, but with even more expressive styling.

Buick LaCrosse: Newly introduced, the front-drive competitor for the Toyota Avalon and Ford Taurus will carry the brand through its transition into the new GM. A four-cylinder edition is planned, which puts this new four-door closer than ever to the Chevrolet Malibu, which shares its running gear and assembly plant.

2012 Buick Regal: Motor Trend suggests two more sedans could become Buicks. The first would be a version of the Opel Insignia, which may be a part of the GM empire for only a short time as the company sells its majority interest to Canadian supplier Magna. Buick could receive a rebadged Insignia to slot beneath the LaCrosse.

2012 Buick Century sedan and MPV: Far more likely, Motor Authority predicts, is the addition of a compact Buick based on the new Chevrolet Cruze/Volt architecture

MORE AT MotorAuthority

[civilzues]

they need to add some coupes, convt's-not just sedans.

[flobeelicious]

Originally Posted by Exploder

I would have preferred they use the Roadmaster or Park Avenue nameplate, but I don't think "Lucerne" is so bad now having learned it's derived from French and is the name of several small towns...just makes it more acceptable to me for some reason.

And I hope it's RWD. This Super Epsilon is indeed real, is it?

ever been to a safeway? their house brand dairy products have been lucerne forever. ruins the name for me.