GM @ Beijing '08: 2009 Buick Excelle Preview

[Blake Noble]

GM @ Beijing '08: 2009 Buick Excelle Preview
New Interior, Freshened Exterior Design

Link to original Article @ CarScoop

Buick’s Chinese arm has refreshed its Excelle subcompact sedan for the 2009 MY. On the outside, the 2009 Excelle’s appearance is partially inspired by Buick’s flagship model in China; the Holden Statesman based Park Avenue. The facelifted Excelle, which by-the-way is based on the Chevrolet / Daewoo Lacetti, also features a redesigned interior. Buick’s new Chinese subcompact sedan will make its public debut later this month at the 2008 Beijing Auto Show.

More images:

Edited April 4, 2008 by YellowJacket894

[loki]

interior looks good, mostly.

looks bland on the outside though... other than a very good family resemblance to... mostly the lucerne (front)

[Intrepidation]

It's an improvement, but it's still not a real Buick.

[AAS]

Yuck! This is one Chinese Buick that I'm glad we don't get.

[Croc]

Other than the steering wheel, which looks extremely cheap to me, I kinda like it. Not enough to wish it here, but it looks well-executed for its intended segment.

[regfootball]

its a freaking daewoo forenza / epica in buick drag. my God, it sucks.

[Cory Wolfe]

It's still a Daewoo.

[VenSeattle]

I find this hard to believe with Delta II about to debut.

edit - -

Similar interior pics have been floating around for a year or so. The pics muct be of a current facelift prior to the Delta II-based Excelle replacement. I just find it too hard to believe otherwise.

edit 2 - -

Isn't the Delta II Excelle replacement suppose to be a 2010 model? So does this mean the Chinese will get the Taiwan facelifted Excelle for 1 year (2009) before the Delta II Excelle replacement (Skylark?) arrives?

[Blake Noble]

I forgot to add something to my post that went: "Slowly, little by little, the Excelle is becoming a full member of the Buick family." :AH-HA_wink:

Edited April 4, 2008 by YellowJacket894

[Intrepidation]

I forgot to add something to my post that went: "Slowly, little by little, the Excelle becomes a full member of the Buick family." :AH-HA_wink:

By being Korean?

[Blake Noble]

By being Korean?

My apologies for not proof-reading my typing. :AH-HA_wink:

[titan]

ugh

[VenSeattle]

Griffon! Can you comment on this please?

[Paolino]

I know this is SUCH a little detail, but why isn't the insignia chrome on the steering wheel?

[gm4life]

Steering wheel has got to go other than that I like it. Seriously.

[ZL-1]

My :twocents:

Remember development money is tight, with the decrease in US volume and a possible longer and/or deeper contraction in the US economy GM will be burning cash quicker. So maybe (and just maybe) programming a refresh of the Excelle means the Delta II Chevrolet and Opel (and Saab?) are being pushed forward, with the Buick waiting a little longer. Product development and lauche dates have to be juggled between brands.

Edited April 4, 2008 by ZL-1

[Sixty8panther]

I know this is SUCH a little detail, but why isn't the insignia chrome on the steering wheel?

GOD is in the details... though this IS just a 3rd world econobox...

[ocnblu]

Absolutely heretical.

[turbo200]

Isn't the Delta II Excelle replacement suppose to be a 2010 model? So does this mean the Chinese will get the Taiwan facelifted Excelle for 1 year (2009) before the Delta II Excelle replacement (Skylark?) arrives?

that makes some sense. we all know the delta II model arrives next year or very soon after. the excelle is in the chinese top 10....so maybe they were working on an update when delta II got fasttracked....that is after all why we didn't receive an MCE for Cobalt, since Delta II is coming next year.

with this the car the chinese yet again display a discipline for categorically meeting the market and driving Buick to the right position. With the Lacrosse and the Excelle, it is clear the Chinese priorities are in the right places, and we should be thankful American Buick hooked onto the bandwagon and will benefit from smart design choices. This is merely an update of an outdated small car, nonetheless it's realistically as upscale as it can get, whilst maintaining preset hardpoints.

Edited April 5, 2008 by turbo200

[z28luvr01]

The interior looks pretty nice for a Daewoo:. The Chinese Buick designers really know to make silk purses out of sows ears. That said, while I'm not opposed to a compact Buick, I don't want this thing on our soil.

[thegriffon]

Not everyone gets Delta II the same year. You can expect the Delta II Buick to be delayed at least 6 months behind the Cobalt, so probably 2010 CY, not MY as it's considered in the US.

[VenSeattle]

Not everyone gets Delta II the same year. You can expect the Delta II Buick to be delayed at least 6 months behind the Cobalt, so probably 2010 CY, not MY as it's considered in the US.

Whew! Thank you Griffon! So this will be around for about two years, then the compact under consideration for both the US & Chinese markets will debut. I can live with that.

I admit the 2009 Excelle has upscale characteristics with the facelift: rear parking censors, LED tail lamps, possible Xenon headlamps, attractive (for a mainstream compact) interior. The Delta II needs to aspire higher than the mainstream compact market though. It needs to be comparable to a Volvo S40 or Acura TSX. It looks like that's the direction their headed with the facelift. I'm looking forward the what they come up with.

So, based on Griffon's timeline, the Delta II Buick Skylark compact will arrive in time for the Lucerne to go out of production... by 2011, Buick's US line-up could be:

near-luxury Skylark compact sedan

luxury Invicta midsize sedan

luxury Enclave CUV sedan

- with the potential of an alpha-based Regal sedan and/or a Riviera coupe (Delta II or EPII based).

I say Riviera could be Delta II because the Volt will use Delta II. I believe a "Riviera coupe" would be perfect as Buick's luxury Hybrid version of the Volt.

[cire]

Yikes! This car looks better after the facelift, but it is still not deserving of the Buick name. Next!

Now let's see that Invicta Concept!

[ToniCipriani]

I like the refreshed interior, but as far as the exterior goes, the old one looks better, even though it looks just like the Optra. The rear doesn't look right, especially on the rear quarter view.

[Mule Bakersdozen LS]

Since when was it a subcompact? Its always been a compact, and most of the cars in the class have been since at least 2001...looks more upscale, but still not my ideal Skyhawk, and an aging and unexciting car nonetheless (ditto Lucerne).

[BuddyP]

Looks dated already

[carman21]

Not cool

[thegriffon]

http://www.buick.com.cn/newexcelle/

[MyerShift]

Such a sad little car to be called Buick.

I'd take my old Skyhawk back over this anyday. (not that it's much more cheerful with the name Buick, but at least not as suicidally depressed as Cadillac... Cimarron)

[ToniCipriani]

Hey, at least they have nav available...

[Blake Noble]

Hey, at least they have nav available...

You know, I believe if more compact cars here in the United States offered premium features such a navigation and other amenities that you would find in cars from larger segements as options, it could help to break down the "compact cars are cheap" stigma that you find here.

[SuperSport623]

stigma? bring back the Chevette!

oh... you wanted to break the stigma... oops....

[Blake Noble]

stigma? bring back the Chevette!

A rear-drive compact car in coupe, sedan, hatch, and wagon configurations with a manual transmission for less than nineteen-thousand geezels in change? Sounds pretty interesting to me! But I wonder, who would have the almighty balls to do it?

[Robert Hall]

A rear-drive compact car in coupe, sedan, hatch, and wagon configurations with a manual transmission for less than nineteen-thousand geezels in change? Sounds pretty interesting to me! But I wonder, who would have the almighty balls to do it?

Yes, a modern well engineered RWD 'T-Car' would be interesting..outside the US, the Chevette/T-Car had lots of body styles. Problem is, today, the buying public worldwide is used to FWD in subcompacts and compacts and small RWD cars tend to have poor space utilization (the hump, rear axle, etc takes up space, as does the north-south engine alignment compared to transverse).

[SuperSport623]

you think the old Vega/Chevette/Monza tooling is still around?

[Blake Noble]

Yes, a modern well engineered RWD 'T-Car' would be interesting..outside the US, the Chevette/T-Car had lots of body styles.

I particularly liked this take on the T-Body from Vauxhall:

I am not the biggest fan of many compact cars. But those traits I have mentioned here would make a potential buyer out of me. I could only imagine what the driving experience of such a car would be like if it was executed correctly. I think such an idea is perfect for Pontiac, to build a smaller poor man's 1-Series that follows that car's mission of being the modern 2002 a little more closer. No, such an idea is not new, but it is an idea with merit.

Problem is, today, the buying public worldwide is used to FWD in subcompacts and compacts and small RWD cars tend to have poor space utilization (the hump, rear axle, etc takes up space, as does the north-south engine alignment compared to transverse).

True, packaging does become an issue with such a car, sadly. But, really, there are a lot of front-drive cars that do not take full advantage of their packaging advantages and then you wind up with redundant anomalies like an exhaust hump eating away floor space in the rear footwell of the car, where a front-drive car is supposed to present such an advantage over a rear-drive car.

Edited April 19, 2008 by YellowJacket894

[Robert Hall]

you think the old Vega/Chevette/Monza tooling is still around?

I hope not...according to Wikipedia, the T-platform lived until 1994 in Brasil. The Vega/Monza/H-cars were NA only, AFAIK... they died out in 1980.

The T-platform was pretty versatile, with many body styles and numerous brandings, some badge-engineered, some w/ unique sheetmetal... brands included Chevy (multiple models for different markets, incl. the US), Pontiac, Opel, Buick, Vauxhall, Isuzu, Bedford, Holden, GMC (Argentina), Daewoo and Saehan (S. Korea), Aymesa (Ecuador), and Grumett (Uraguay)...never heard of those last few..

Edited April 19, 2008 by moltar

[ToniCipriani]

You know, I believe if more compact cars here in the United States offered premium features such a navigation and other amenities that you would find in cars from larger segements as options, it could help to break down the "compact cars are cheap" stigma that you find here.

I was just being sarcastic about the whines about nav and blueteeth going on around here.

Of course the Excelle needs it. Buick's an upmarket brand there.

[carman21]

This looks like a compact sedan based on he Buick Rendezvous.

If we get a compact Buick here, it will be more like the Cobalt than this car.

[InvictaMan]

I really can't get too excited about this revamp, I'll have to wait until they do something serious, the new vehicle, on I guess Delta II from what everyone is saying.