in my opinion the venti-ports and the grill RUIN the nose of the car as it was NOT designed as a Buick and I think GM NEEDS a modern forward looking brand and stop dwelling in the past and secondly hopefully ether Buick adopts Opal design cues OR opal/Buick start working together to find ONE design that can be sold as Buick AND Opal
I actually like the portholes, their new interpretation and location at the edges of the hood, but your latter suggestion is CRUCIAL! Buick and Opel NEED to consolidate design language the way that Chrysler and Lancia are doing. Perhaps Opel wouldn't be losing so much money if they weren't JUST trying to sell cars in Europe, a relatively small, now economically depressed market. If their cars were designed FROM THE BEGINNING to be sold as Opels AND Buicks, in Europe, North America, China, etc., it would be better for them.
As for the Cascada, if GM does not sell this car in North America as a Buick, they deserve to go bankrupt. $33,000 for this car seems like a reasonable price, but FULLY LOADED. I test drove a base Verano in January, and the rep told me that model, which was loaded with satellite navigation and other goodies, came out to $30,000. I would expect a convertible to be a wee bit more. Would I buy one? It's a nice car, but I'm not really into convertibles. They are nice for renting on sunny vacations, but I wouldn't own one. I would prefer a sporty hatchback like the GTC, but we know GM won't make that happen anytime soon...
A lot of comparisons here have been made to the Camaro Convertible. The Cascada is smaller, lighter, and presumably will get much better mileage. It seems more like a "chick car," but aren't women driving many of the American auto industry trends today?
Obviously, the Cascada wouldn't sell in Toyota Camry blockbuster numbers, but is this now the criteria for ANY vehicle being sold in North America?
