New Regal Spearheads Buick's Fast-Paced Expansion
By Bill Visnic June 17, 2010General Motors Co.'s 2011 Buick Regal - trickling from its German assembly plant into showrooms for about the past month, is the linchpin to the Buick's expansion plans in the U.S. where, surviving the company's post-bankruptcy brand purge, Buick is quickly going about replacing the old with the new.
The aged Lucerne sedan represents the last of Buick's old guard and soon will be put to rest. That will leave the well-received Enclave crossover - launched in 2008 - as Buick's oldest model. The LaCrosse midsize sedan was launched last year and now the 2011 Regal will anchor the lower end of the midsize segment.
Buick sources expect the Regal, which starts at $26,995, to become the brand's volume seller.
From there, Buick pulls the trigger next year on the launch of two new compact models based on the GM Daewoo-developed global front-wheel-drive architecture of the coming Chevrolet Aveo subcompact: one will be a smaller-than-Regal sedan, the other a compact crossover that ties into the Enclave's successful styling.
At that point, a Buick spokeswoman says the brand will have coverage in 42 percent of the market's segments. And it will have five almost completely new models.
Regal Setting Buick's Post-Bankruptcy Tone
For now, though, the Regal launch is Buick's task at hand - because officials still understand that just because the Regal fronts probably the most chiseled and crisp sheetmetal even worn by a Buick and has a German-engineering pedigree, Buick remains saddled with a hard-to-shake reputation as retirement-village chariot.
That's changing, said Roger McCormack, Buick marketing director. The Enclave typically is purchased by women much younger than the brand's average age. The Enclave's being backed up by the new LaCrosse to slide Buick out from under the old-folks stigma. 
But with more-venturesome sheetmetal and new generations of customers entering the market, Buick is evolving from its unwanted image, particularly in the nation's "smile" states, where McCormack and other Buick executives claim there's not as much pre-conceived notion about the brand.
About 25 percent of conquests for the LaCrosse, for example, are imports - versus a rate of three percent for the previous-generation LaCrosse. And Buick unashamedly is targeting imports with the 2011 Regal, naming Acura's TSX, the Volvo S60 and the Lexus ES350.
The Regal's armed only with 4-cylinder power in a segment in which V-6s invariably are available. That's okay, says Jim Federico, who before GM's recent product-development shakeup moved him to compact and electric vehicles, had been the chief engineer and global vehicle line executive for fullsize and midsize cars - because while the Regal's standard engine is GM's healthy direct-injected 2.4-liter 4-cylinder (182 horsepower), an available 2-liter turbocharged four makes a V6-rivaling 220 horses and 258 pound-feet of torque.
"If the customer wants a V6, we've got the LaCrosse," Federico says, reminding that the new Regal and the LaCrosse share the global-midsize architecture known as Epsilon II. The Regal, however, is four inches shorter in wheelbase, six inches shorter overall and sits a noticeable half inch lower than the LaCrosse.
The final move that suggests Buick seriously believes there are plenty of younger buyers out there who don't have perceptions of the brand that will get in the way of selling them a "sporty" Buick: this fall when Regals with the turbocharged engine are available, the turbo can be paired with a 6-speed manual transmission.
Not too many geriatrics - or even Boomers, for that matter - are looking to work a clutch pedal anymore, so each and every buyer of the manual-transmission Regal is certain to help Buick in its ongoing mission to get younger, firmer butts in its less-pillowy seats.
Photos by GM
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Click here to comment on this entry.if they back the car with a strong ad campaign it will sell. The S60 is such a low volume car I dont even know why its mentioned as a competitor.
real competition is Passat, CC and TSX as well as upper trims of Mazda6 and Accord.
A Buick available only with 4-cylinder power? Ugh, that's a movie I've seen before: Remember the 1982-1989 Skyhawk? Neither do most people, but it was the last Buick before this one to offer only 4-cylinder engines. Like this new Regal, the Skyhawk also thought it could replace a V-6 with a turbocharged four. I've no doubt that both the Regal and its engines are far superior to what was offered with that old Skyhawk, but no amount of tweaking can entirely abolish the shrill mechanical noises and bothersome vibrations that are part and parcel of most fours, regardless of origin. For my money, I'd buy a V-6 LaCrosse--or even one of the old 1997-2004 Regals, which offered 3.8-liter V-6 power--before I'd pony up for one of the new four-cylinder Regals. Nevertheless, I hope Buick as a whole performs well in the marketplace.
Aveo is not a base for new compact sedan. Most likely it is Opel Astra as a relatively premium platform or Cruz if GM is cheap as usual. Not offering V6 is in line with Honda TSX and Huiday Sonata. But still 2.4 is too weak for such a heavy car. I Germany it has V6 option BTW with all their stricter fuel consumption regulations.
Wait, the Regal starts at the same price as a LaCrosse CX? I presume it has more standard equipment--otherwise, what's the point?
As for 4-cylinders only, if the idea is to attract import buyers, they don't have such outdated perceptions of 4-cylinder power.
Regal CXL has considerably more equipment than Lacrosse CX.
Buick small car will NOT be based on the Aveo platform. The car will be a sedan version of the Astra and its already been shown in China.
With a 4, the Regal will get cross shopped-vs-Malibu, Fusion, Mazda 6; all with V6s and comparable economy for the about the same or less money.
The 2012 MY will see a V6 unless gasoline in the US goes to $5/gal.
I keep tellin' ya, Motown; Sound and Power Quality. It doesn't matter if you can get the interior noise level down to 50 db at full throttle, what you hear, however faintly, is the same type of motor the Aveo has. But a V8, even one as small as two liters, should provide equal or greater torque, horsepower and economy as a peaky turbo four of the same displacement, if designed using today's benchmarks of variable camshafts, sequential direct injection, etc.
GM, try this at your next Regal Focus (pun intended) Clinic:
Show Group A a video of a Regal briskly rounding a curve, or accelerating up an entrance ramp, using the actual sound of the four, from inside and outside the car.
Meanwhile, show Group B the exact same video only with the sound of a stock small bore V8 dubbed in.
Then give Group B a price that is $2000 higher than the price given to Group A.
The price of the "V8" Regal will be easier for Group B to justify than the price of the Turbo Four will be for Group A, and will have a higher "would likely consider" profile.
I guarantee it.
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