Velite Coming for Buick

[wildcat]

Car and Driver today reported that Buick will get a fourth model at the end of the decade, and it's likely that it will be a sedan and/or convertible based on the Velite. Here is a link to the story:

http://www.caranddriver.com/carnews/13083/...-for-buick.html

[Paolino]

God I would LOVE that car for Buick!

[gm4life]

Bring it on but it might be a Park Avenue from China for next spring. Is what I heard. I will take both please!

[loki]

just make it sexy, powerful, and priced right! ....unless that's the goal of the NG lacrosse.... if it's "the" velite... price it up just a little LOL

[big blue]

One can only hope the Velite comes to see the light of day in the future.

[Oracle of Delphi]

Wow the concept was shown at the 2004 New York auto show, and you get it by 2010? Great planning, will Lutz still be alive to see it or for that matter will Buick?

[Drew Dowdell]

it won't be the velite as we know it.....at best you'll get the name

[Intrepidation]

I'd prefer the name "Riviera"

At any rate, the Velite still looks modern today, and more modern than anything besides the Enclave.

[AxelTheRed]

"Large rear-wheel drive sedan". So are we thinking this is going to be built at Oshawa with the rest of the Zetas? Or is the production capacity going to be revved up too much?

Edited May 31, 2007 by AxelTheRed

[jbartley]

leftlanenews has picked it up too.

Production Velite

i like these tidbits:

"The Velite was previewed as a convertible, but the automaker will likely build both sedan and convertible variants, according to the magazine. It will be built on GM's Zeta architecture."

"While a final name has not yet been picked, GM is open to keeping the Velite badge. Velite will be Buick's only rear-wheel-drive vehicle, according to Clarke. All other models will remain front-drive."

exactly what should be done.

Edited May 31, 2007 by jbartley

[Paolino]

CALL IT RIVIERA!!!!!!!!!

[jbartley]

CALL IT VELITE!!!

[Cananopie]

Finally! Someone understands! Buick needs some excitement vehicles!

[Robert Hall]

Cool... it would be nice to see a family-sized convertible again..been a long time since there has been one. A coworker and I have been talking about this this week---about the lack of family-sized convertibles..he and his wife want a convertible, but they have 2 infants..they've looked at the Mini, 4dr Wrangler, Eos, G6, Sebring, Solara, and a used A4.

The Solara was the only one they have found that had a big enough back seat to accomodate two rear-facing child seats and big enough trunk for a stroller, etc.

[AxelTheRed]

CALL IT RIVIERA!!!!!!!!!

I agree. While there's nothing wrong with Velite, the Riviera name is well known and has a rich heritage.

[Robert Hall]

I agree. While there's nothing wrong with Velite, the Riviera name is well known and has a rich heritage.

Ideally, I'd like to see the coupe/convertible called Riviera and the sedan called Electra. But obviously Buick marketeers want a new, fresh name with no history..to go after new buyers.

[AxelTheRed]

Ideally, I'd like to see the coupe/convertible called Riviera and the sedan called Electra. But obviously Buick marketeers want a new, fresh name with no history..to go after new buyers.

Velite, Riviera, Electra...they're all pretty snazzy names that ooze class.

[Sixty8panther]

Bring it on but it might be a Park Avenue from China for next spring. Is what I heard. I will take both please!

YES, please!

[Duncan]

Cool... it would be nice to see a family-sized convertible again..been a long time since there has been one. A coworker and I have been talking about this this week---about the lack of family-sized convertibles..he and his wife want a convertible, but they have 2 infants..they've looked at the Mini, 4dr Wrangler, Eos, G6, Sebring, Solara, and a used A4.

The Solara was the only one they have found that had a big enough back seat to accomodate two rear-facing child seats and big enough trunk for a stroller, etc.

Too bad the Solara 'vert apparently has all the roll stiffness of balsa wood. And sadly, I would normally recommend the new Sebring droptop as well, but it seems to have lost a lot of the rear legroom it was once known for.

Where's a Cutlass Supreme convertible when you need one?

Edited May 31, 2007 by Duncan

[BuickBoy]

Velite, Riviera, Electra...they're all pretty snazzy names that ooze class.

RIVIERA for Pete's sake. GM brand managers take a hint! One reason you are in the jam you are in is that you've pretty much managed to destroy whatever brands you had.

[wjfox]

Ideally, I'd like to see the coupe/convertible called Riviera and the sedan called Electra. But obviously Buick marketeers want a new, fresh name with no history..to go after new buyers.

I'd like to see the name Electra reserved for hybrid powertrain variants. I like Riviera better than Velite also. I think Buick has been trying to run away from some names that had some bad baggage like Century, and even LeSabre, but I don't think Riviera ever had a bad reputation. The market just moved away from the personal luxury coupe. Now that its moving away from SUVs maybe the name Riviera has place in the line up again.

[jbartley]

Cool... it would be nice to see a family-sized convertible again..been a long time since there has been one. A coworker and I have been talking about this this week---about the lack of family-sized convertibles..he and his wife want a convertible, but they have 2 infants..they've looked at the Mini, 4dr Wrangler, Eos, G6, Sebring, Solara, and a used A4.

The Solara was the only one they have found that had a big enough back seat to accomodate two rear-facing child seats and big enough trunk for a stroller, etc.

ya know, i don't think car seats, infants, and convertibles mix.....

And i say this topic needs a vote. Velite, Riviera, Electra, or Other....

[titan]

That aritcle was a little upsetting. "Don't think of Buick as only having 3 vehicles, think of BPG as having 24." That's such bull$h!.

Edited June 1, 2007 by titan

[ToniCipriani]

Invicta, please.

[ZL-1]

That aritcle was a little upsetting. "Don't think of Buick as only having 3 vehicles, think of BPG as having 24." That's such bull$h!.

Why?

[Flybrian]

But unlike Invicta or Electra, which don't exist in the minds of most today, Riviera does. Its a name that isn't as harsh as the other two yet still arresting and powerful. Its contemporary yet historic all at the same time.

Velite seems contrived by comparison, like a group of people sat around looking at a list of continental words seeing which one that has been used would sound best (which is probably exactly what they did). And string me up for saying this, but from the A-pillar forward, the Velite looks awful.

Riviera, please.

[DetroitNut90]

For the couple/convertable, I'd prefer Velite, but Riviera would be fine as well. For the sedan, though,

Invicta, please.

Invicta sounds less stodgy than LeSabre and just better than Electra.

[BuickBoy]

But unlike Invicta or Electra, which don't exist in the minds of most today, Riviera does. Its a name that isn't as harsh as the other two yet still arresting and powerful. Its contemporary yet historic all at the same time.

Velite seems contrived by comparison, like a group of people sat around looking at a list of continental words seeing which one that has been used would sound best (which is probably exactly what they did). And string me up for saying this, but from the A-pillar forward, the Velite looks awful.

Riviera, please.

Velite sounds like a low calorie cheese spread from Kraft. RIVIERA please while there are still people alive who remember that the Riv' was like.

[Windy-57]

I personally like Velite. I think it says what you want and is a fresh start rather than going back to a name that's was used while the brand was being ruined. That said, if GM is really going global with naming, I'd expect Riviera since they used that name for the concept shown in China, and China will have a lot of influence over this brand going forward.

So if this is true, I'd imagine this would replace the Chinese Park Ave. in America much like there will be a completely different program G8 to replace the Holden rebadge? A convertible version like that would be pretty different from the Velite concept.

So, what does this put the NA Zeta count at now, 8?

Buick (2) - Park Ave (is this Lucerne rplt.?), Velite

Pontiac (2) - G8, GTO

Chevy (2) - Impala, Camaro

Cadillac (2) - DTS rplt., $100K sedan

What do I have wrong/am I missing?

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

I vote Electra....

[Camino LS6]

I personally like Velite. I think it says what you want and is a fresh start rather than going back to a name that's was used while the brand was being ruined. That said, if GM is really going global with naming, I'd expect Riviera since they used that name for the concept shown in China, and China will have a lot of influence over this brand going forward.

So if this is true, I'd imagine this would replace the Chinese Park Ave. in America much like there will be a completely different program G8 to replace the Holden rebadge? A convertible version like that would be pretty different from the Velite concept.

So, what does this put the NA Zeta count at now, 8?

Buick (2) - Park Ave (is this Lucerne rplt.?), Velite

Pontiac (2) - G8, GTO

Chevy (2) - Impala, Camaro

Cadillac (2) - DTS rplt., $100K sedan

What do I have wrong/am I missing?

Likley an El Camino and maybe a wagon.

[VenSeattle]

I vote Electra....

I really want them to keep the Park Avenue name in China and have the name return to the US.

Skylark, Regal, Park Avenue, & Riviera. Perfect Line-up to me Oh, and of course, Enclave too!

[Gizhost]

GM needs to get this to the market fast to keep their line-up fresh.

[Windy-57]

Likley an El Camino and maybe a wagon.

Do you mean they're actually doing them? I had thought that was mostly speculation and GM hadn't done any real work on those yet.

Interesting side thought, what if an El Camino and wagon were the same model only different bodystyles...imagine a Magnum with a bed.

[InvictaMan]

What Buick wants, what Buick needs.

As I stated at that topic:

Can we overcome cute for common sense?

As much as I hate to say it, Skylark is a great name for a convertible and it has recent history. Some of them were actually nice for their period. It would be a matter of marketing — make the bird look noir or aggressive, like the Robin symbol in the later Batman movies. Not cute, like the previous rep of the model. Match the bird to the aggressive, sporty styling. This would relate more to a younger audience. Riviera is a great name, but it doesn't fit historically on a convertible. It needs to be a big coupe.

[cmattson]

While I've always been a fan of the Riveria and it's graceful curves. If Buick wants to acquire some conquest buyers, it needs to shake itself away from the vehicle names that lead you towards 'grandma car'. That's why go way back and bring out something with a rebelious edge to it, something with a swagger: The Buick Wildcat. I'd go over the top with it to. I'd introduce it at halftime of a Kentucky football game. Drive it out to center of the field and unwrap it. I'd tape the whole segment and use it as a commercial -- get shots of some football, the crowd cheering, the band playing, and cheerleaders jumping around, and even more cheerleaders jumping around and even mo.. ok I'll stop. It's oozes Americana: you've got a hot ride, football, youth and middle-America. If you can't market around that, you are absolutely brain-dead (wha? ummm. Ok: immediate apologies to previous GM marketing individuals and their 'efforts'). It needs to be bold and agressive -- similar to Caddy's Art and Science. You want something that makes people stand up and say 'Wow -- I want one of those'. Something that dashes the Buick=Old stigmatism.