GM News: Buick and Opel Bond To Become Stronger

[William Maley]

William Maley

Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com

June 18, 2013

In a effort to help out its struggling European operations, General Motors will further intertwine Opel/Vauxhall engineering efforts with Buick.

"What we're trying to do is bring together the product development teams much more closely," said GM CEO Dan Akerson, so that "there will be all sorts of synergies, I believe, between Opel-Vauxhall and Buick."

Currently, Buick sells three different Opel models in the U.S.: Encore (Opel Mokka), Regal (Opel Insignia), and Verano (Opel Astra).

So what will this mean in the future? Well, expect more Opel products to arrive as Buicks in the coming years.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

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[Drew Dowdell]

Omega

[G. David Felt]

Very good for them as the Opel models have been well received. I hope they bring the CNG Opel Adam here to the US. I would love to buy this.

FYI, Saw my first Cruze TDI 2.0 commercial where it comes into the test center, white model all covered in mud / dirt leaving dirty tire tracks as it drives up to the white coat engineers who then take a clean white cloth and they hold it up to the exhaust and step on it and the cloth comes away clean. They state 46MPG, cleanest Diesel on the road, Quietest Diesel on the road.

Very impressed. I hope they grow this fast as it was impressive and I think Americans will love it also.

[regfootball]

i want and need to test a cruze diesel as soon as it comes out.

[vonVeezelsnider]

Buick Cascada. Lots of room to grow with the C70 going away and the IS-C, Eos and 200 Convertible having rather uncertain futures.

[hyperv6]

Anyone here shocked about this?

[ZL-1]

Anyone here shocked about this?

Nope.

Omega

Problem is that it would have to be a heavily rebodied VF (unless it would be an Alpha-based car), or else people would scream Chevrolet SS rebadge...

[Drew Dowdell]

You're forgetting something.... and it's in the name. ;-)

[hyperv6]

You're forgetting something.... and it's in the name. ;-)

The Olds Omega is coming back? LOL!

What are you getting at? This will be the last large RWD GM is doing and as in I am Alpha and Omega the Beginning and the End?

[Robert Hall]

The Cascadia seems like it would be a natural to bring here. I've seen in British car sites that the '14 Insignia is getting the MCE the Regal is getting. I do wonder about the next LaCrosse--if they will develop a larger model shared by Buick and Opel...been a long time since there has been a 'big' Opel.

[Drew Dowdell]

You're forgetting something.... and it's in the name. ;-)

The Olds Omega is coming back? LOL!

What are you getting at? This will be the last large RWD GM is doing and as in I am Alpha and Omega the Beginning and the End?

The next RWD platform from GM is called Omega to sit over top of Alpha . It will first go to Cadillac, but as a large and likely expensive platform, I would expect it to end up at Buick and Opel as well.

[hyperv6]

You're forgetting something.... and it's in the name. ;-)

The Olds Omega is coming back? LOL!

What are you getting at? This will be the last large RWD GM is doing and as in I am Alpha and Omega the Beginning and the End?

The next RWD platform from GM is called Omega to sit over top of Alpha . It will first go to Cadillac, but as a large and likely expensive platform, I would expect it to end up at Buick and Opel as well.

By all means it will be leveraged out over several brands. I also ponder that they could consider a future unibody SUV or the like on it. GM would never have approved this for Cadillac if it were only to be a single model at Cadillac. The real mystery will be where and how they will use it. Where ever it goes it will be the top model, expensive and limited in volume unless they can use it in a truck or SUV class where they can beat some of the fuel mileage regs.

Hmm! I wonder if they could do a Porsche Cayenne sport SUV to compete with the up scales performance SUV models. It is amazing how many of these Porsche is moving anymore. Here in Ohio they are becoming more common than any other Porsche model and most are not entry level models.

Edited June 19, 2013 by hyperv6

[balthazar]

Too bad the pipeline only flows one-way.

[ocnblu]

Agreed, Balthy. The LaCrosse is the only Buick sedan that truly has Buick DNA, with the sweepspear. Sweepspear does not fit Opel DNA... and I can see the "new" GM doing away with Buick character with this project to benefit Opel... shameful.

[balthazar]

Yeah- the narrative talks like it's an even, or even close, exchange. Reminds me in a way of the hilarity surrounding 'Buick was picked to survive because Buicks sell so well in China' (just ship 'em Opel parts).

At some point the brand will be completely hollowed out, but that's "branding" for you.

[ocnblu]

They're shoring up one old brand by basically erasing another. But Buick has been a bedrock of the corporation longer than Opel has. Priority has shifted a bit from the brands that built GM here in its home country.

[hyperv6]

For the last 20 years the only traditional Buicks that mattered were the GN and the Lasabre. The rest of the line up in North America was nearly invisible to the general public.

Now I am not saying that they were bad cars but they were car the public just really never connected to and defected from to Lexus and other models. The public no longer anymore are Brand Loyal and it is more of what have you done lately for me.

While the cars like the Regal are claimed to be some of the best Buicks in years they just do not stand out with that thing about them that says I have to have one.

You can argue all say about port holes side spears and Tri Shields but today buyer that GM needs generally could care less about these things. They want a car that sets them apart. They want designs that they feel and stir their emotions. They want performance in MPG and MPH. They want no compromise handling but they want a good ride.

This segment used to only have a few cars in it years ago and today there are many models in it and most have little to no heritage and out sell Buick easily.

I can't put my finger on it but I just feel with the next generation of jointly built Buick and Opel cars GM needs to take it to the next level.

Now I am not saying to trash all the heritage but I would spend less time focusing on these things and focus more on what really sells cars today to the 30-50 year old professional class.

I could want a Buick but you do not have to remind me of my Fathers Lesabres and Regals as most of them were good cars but very forgettable.

[ZL-1]

You're forgetting something.... and it's in the name. ;-)

If it's going to underpin a S-Series fighter for Cadillac it's just too big for an Opel... Anything significantly larger than today's Insignia is probably suicidal for Opel...

[G. David Felt]

Yeah- the narrative talks like it's an even, or even close, exchange. Reminds me in a way of the hilarity surrounding 'Buick was picked to survive because Buicks sell so well in China' (just ship 'em Opel parts).

At some point the brand will be completely hollowed out, but that's "branding" for you.

We'll to use a old Tag line, This is NOT your Grandfather Buick!

[Drew Dowdell]

You're forgetting something.... and it's in the name. ;-)

If it's going to underpin a S-Series fighter for Cadillac it's just too big for an Opel... Anything significantly larger than today's Insignia is probably suicidal for Opel...

Opel is going to need to move up to "Buick" level. It can no longer be the "Chevrolet of Europe" now that Chevrolet is there actively making a go at it. I'm not saying that Opel should build an S-Class sized car, but I would expect Omega (platform) to be equally as flexible as the Alpha platform, but with higher starting and ending points for size.

[ZL-1]

You're forgetting something.... and it's in the name. ;-)

If it's going to underpin a S-Series fighter for Cadillac it's just too big for an Opel... Anything significantly larger than today's Insignia is probably suicidal for Opel...

Opel is going to need to move up to "Buick" level. It can no longer be the "Chevrolet of Europe" now that Chevrolet is there actively making a go at it. I'm not saying that Opel should build an S-Class sized car, but I would expect Omega (platform) to be equally as flexible as the Alpha platform, but with higher starting and ending points for size.

If Omega starts at roughly 2014 CTS length, maybe... But then maybe it's best to build it on Alpha which I assume will a lower cost architecture?...

[PONTIAC06]

That's exactly what I was thinking...there is no way that GM can justify all new platforms today without great flexibility, great volume, or both. No matter what kind of profit margin MB or BMW make on the S-Class and 7, Cadillac won't make that on their first modern attempt in the class. So, this has to be able to do a Buick/Opel, hopefully a next gen SRX and put Alpha under a BRX, or something...

Plus, something like an Omega based vehicle for Buick would probably do wonders in China where the upper class like to be chauffeured. The LaCrosse isn't exactly that type of vehicle.

Edited June 23, 2013 by PONTIAC06

[Drew Dowdell]

You're forgetting something.... and it's in the name. ;-)

If it's going to underpin a S-Series fighter for Cadillac it's just too big for an Opel... Anything significantly larger than today's Insignia is probably suicidal for Opel...

Opel is going to need to move up to "Buick" level. It can no longer be the "Chevrolet of Europe" now that Chevrolet is there actively making a go at it. I'm not saying that Opel should build an S-Class sized car, but I would expect Omega (platform) to be equally as flexible as the Alpha platform, but with higher starting and ending points for size.

If Omega starts at roughly 2014 CTS length, maybe... But then maybe it's best to build it on Alpha which I assume will a lower cost architecture?...

Without knowing exactly what they are doing, one could guess that Omega is an Alpha variant that allows for greater wheelbase and track flexibility. With how solid Alpha is, I wouldn't be surprised if they simply beef up all the required parts for overall larger vehicles.