riviera74

Two points: Buick and Cadillac are NOT the same since they do not sell similar vehicles (e.g. Buick has no RWD; Caddy has no Enclave while Buick has no SRX). Second, what's up with those residuals? What is this, 2005? I still remember when Buick had at least ten models and deep discounting. Now they have four models. How does the Regal and LaCrosse have such poor residuals after only 36 months and/or 45,000 miles off a lease? That leads me to another question: are Buicks overpriced/overproduced or is the competition perceived to be that much better?

Given that Europe is economically volatile, why is GM doing this? Why not just find a way to boot out (or radically restructure) Opel and Vauxhall? Why does GM need this alliance? What can Peugeot provide that GM cannot?

A minimalist car for Gen Y. Hmmm. Not a bad idea, but they also might want to customize everything too. Also, it seems what our intrepid poster wants is a $10,000 car that anyone his age can afford. At this point, no automaker in the West can make an affordable $10,000 car. A long time ago, I had a 1980 Buick Regal with a 4.9L V8 and found and read the original receipt. It was bought December 1979 and the price was $9800. I still remember commercials for cheap pickup trucks that were around the same price in 1990. In 2012, how do you get to a $10,000 NEW car? You can't. Between safety features, extra weight and the demand for more features in a smaller package, our current landscape is biased up towards $30,000 rather than $10,000. If you want anything that is actually worth driving, $10,000 suddenly becomes $25,000 very fast. Now if the USA could reduce safety standards to 1980 levels, then $10,000 is no longer nearly impossible without the large sacrifices made from driving. I do not see anyone pining for a $10,000 Chevy Spark, but there are a lot more (desirable) Mini Coopers running around where I live. Those Coopers are seldom below $25,000. Balthazar's idea is sound, but that might bring a $25,000 car to $18,000. Ideally, an automaker would build a new $8000 stripper and then add features individually to bring it to $10,000. Now, who can make it profitable?

They can keep the Orlando in Canada for all I care. Only if the Mazda 5 and the Dodge Journey actually sell in large enough numbers in the USA to undercut larger models (especially the Equinox!) should GM deliver the Orlando to the USA.

Given that we are now in an era of packages when buying a new car (as opposed to buying one feature or another on the spec sheet back in the '60s), is it possible to tell GM, Ford etc. to just simply ditch the fog/perimeter lights for good? If these lights serve no real purpose, why bundle them at all in any vehicle? No CAR should have them. I could see a truck with a high center of gravity needing them, but nothing else. SRX no, Escalade yes. If the automakers are going to have them, they need to make these perimeter lights fully functional rather than looking cute bordering on vestigial (and essentially useless).

Camino is right about the EPA and its rules. Of course, the best answer would be to get Congress to have these rules rescinded, but they need to be bought off first. Worse yet, I was reading in the last few days that natural gas is cheaper now than it was 5 years ago and that there are plans (by several companies) to export it to other countries to make more $$$ since natural gas prices are a lot higher elsewhere than here in the USA. As for the EVs on the market now or within the next 24 months, I have two questions. Will they work in Detroit or Minneapolis in a harsh winter? And how fast are we going to upgrade (and possibly replace parts of) our electrical infrastructure? The grid in some places are 50 years old or more and it is in poor shape as we speak. No reason to put electric cars charging to a grid that dates from the Eisenhower administration.

I agree, but do you have the millions to contribute (read: bribe) congressmen to do the right thing? If not, it is a pipe dream. . . . . for now.

I have the view that the Genesis and the Equus should have their own dealer network separate from Hyundai. Did Toyota and Honda sell their LS400 and Integra cars beside Camrys and Accords? Absolutely NOT. Toyota and Honda are better off ever since they created Lexus and Acura respectively.

When this is released, there will be one obvious question: why buy a Volt again?

Kia is now the low price leader. This is basically what Plymouth used to be compared with Chrysler from the 1950s until 2000.

So the kids are not into cars as cars? OK then, such is life. Most of us remember life pre-Twitter, pre-Facebook and pre-cellphones: they do not. A 21 Y.O. would see a car as little more than an appliance for getting from point A to point B. I knew a few when I went back to college, and they are far more interested in other things. I doubt kids HATE cars, as much as they are indifferent to them. In a compact city, cars are expensive and possibly unnecessary. In Florida, they are mandatory, unless you want to be dependent on local buses..... bad idea. As for cars getting to be too expensive, that is true. Compare a fully equipped 1980 Regal at $9000 brand new to a fully optioned 2012 Lacrosse at $38,000 brand new. Despite cash for clunkers, I still see plenty of used cars around here for sale for the better part of two years after the program ended.

Dear Ford, Stop bellyaching and step your game up. Your whining makes you look like a little girl who dropped her ice cream cone. Sincerely, GM

Genesis and Equus NEED to be separated from all other Hyundais for one reason: they are actually desirable and they are completely different from all those FWD appliances. If Hyundai wants to compete with Toyota and Honda and Ford and Chevy, Genesis and Equus should have their own dealer network to compete against the luxury marques. Given the value a Genesis sedan is over almost all luxury marques, it is high time they are separate. I might even consider buying one one day (Memo to GM: more RWD please.). Then again, if that were to actually happen, what would be Kia's role?

I agree on the overlap. Chrysler and Dodge need to be very well differentiated for either of them to compete in the marketplace. Dodge could stand to move downmarket some and Chrysler must move upmarket and soon. Otherwise, what is the point of either one other than the 300/Charger and the minivans?

Either way, lighter is aleays better from a performance and fuel efficiency POV. This is nothing but a positive development in GM platform engineering . The XTS and the LaCrosse have the same wheelbase and track ? Really? They should make both of them roomier, if not a little longer since there are no roomy full-size sedans anymore (at least as roomy as a Lucerne!).

I am very impressed by the interior most of all. For years, GM has cheaped out on interiors, even on LeSabre and Park Avenue. That finally started to change with the original Enclave, 2nd-gen Lacrosse and now all the new cars. The Encore continues this very positive trend of premium interiors. GM has finally learned that interiors matter. Now can this interior be acquired in a Lacrosse these days (especially the two-toned seats and motif)?

Since GM already has the GMC Terrain, what purpose would a Granite concept serve if released into the marketplace? The Encore should probably be Equinox/Terrain sized anyway since the Encore looks (is?) smaller than both of them.

Really? The Explorer is ugly. I hope they take nothing from it. I said BEST Ideas. Certainly NOT the Explorer's looks: its interior would be an upgrade over the current Acadia's. Less weight and an improved interior is what this CUV needs now. No need to reject ideas just because they come from elsewhere.

I would rather see GM have the most profit and cash flow than #1 in sales. #1 in sales makes you the hunted..... not the hunter. Best to let Toyota or VW be #1 in sales and let them deal with all the scrutiny the media will bring upon them.

Maybe the reason the median age of cars is so high is that the price of new cars is so high. $30K median price for a new 2012 car? Seriously? Maybe if they were priced at $20K, sales would actually go up and pull that median age down. I only own a 99 Park Avenue Ultra because I cannot afford something newer (newer LaCrosse? or SRX? or CTS?......). I suspect a LOT of people would agree that a new car, even with a lease, is currently unaffordable given their budgets.

The Acadia is the eldest of the Lambdas. It needs a radical MCE, if not a totally new model. GM needs to look at the NEW Ford Explorer and crib their best ideas off that vehicle, including a much improved interior and less weight.

GM needs to make their interiors more space efficient for driver and passenger alike. Soon. As for who owns what GM cars, I have no idea.

Shut down Holden? I certainly hope not. Why not chop Opel down to size since Europe is in an economic malestrom not seen since WWII? Without Holden, there is no G8 or Camaro... and certainly no Zeta to build newer RWD cars. Save Holden: Opel/Vauxhall deserves the chopping block instead.

GM really needs to do this because of Ford's success with the EcoBoost v6 in their F-series. GM is leaving money on the table if they do not follow suit. http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2012/01/f-150-again-tops-chart-as-truck-sales-rebound/

When I get my next car, I will miss the 3800 (Series II supercharged) in my 99 Park Avenue Ultra..... except the premium unleaded requirement. The 231 v6 is easily the best GM pushrod v6 they have ever made. (The pushrod V8s were never bad, excluding the V8-6-4 in '81-'82). The biggest reason is simple: torque. In newer cars with the modern DOHC v6s, which engine is closest to that venerable 231? The new 3.6 perhaps?