regfootball

that one rear quarter shot screams chrysler 200, dollar store version.....

Toyota, Ford, Nissan, Hyundai all have the two tier solution....the camry+avalon, maxima+altima....etc. the two models together = great volume. where ford may sell 200,000 fusions and 60,000 taurus, GM may sell 150,000 malibus and 150,000 impalas. The Impala is unique for GM because it has been able or had to sell at lower prices. Now they are trying to move up, the Malibu sales should be geared towards the value set a little more. But GM will never give up being able to make the large Impala affordable for a big set of the population. To divert from the 4 sedan solution would be suicide. And to give up one of the two brands, Impala or Malibu just for the sake of reducing a model would be suicide. And Cruze is establishing itself as a nameplate possibly with legs. You cannot redefine the size classes of those cars. Gm has buick because some love GM but don't want a Chevy. In order to keep the showroom doors open, you have to offer enough variety and models to give people a somewhat full lineup (trust me i know what happens to a brand and dealers when the brand does not have enough segments of the market filled). Buick needs at least 3 sedans. Older folks always will believe Buick will have a large car and Buick needs a small cheap car like the Verano to keep the doors open and traffic coming in. The Regal is still the best Buick but it needs to repackage and reprice everything and refocus the car. Maybe the next Regal is actually something different. If anything, Chevy is lacking models and variety in its lineup. Look at Hyundai. SS is here to give RWD fans a GM RWD choice, and to basically prop up Holden and Austrialia a bit. I really doubt GM cares whether Zeta dies off but re-doing the commodore had more to do with throwing a bone to the Aussies so they could sell other Holdens and not lose the business.

The front drive Encore leather I drove MSRP was 30,595 and did not have NAV. CX-5 grand touring front drive with remote start, exact same MSRP after I uncheck the parking sensors which the Buick does not have on that trim. both pearl white Buick is 25/33. Mazda is 25/32. Oh my gosh, sound the alarm. 1 mpg! Deal breaker! Encore nets a heated steering wheel and power passenger seat over the mazda in that matchup. Basically the Mazda is not far off. 32 vs. 33 mpg......the comparison is more than valid. Fully loaded every option, 33,8xx on the Encore....way too ambitious, even as good as it is, for an all wheel drive Sonic hatch and 138 hp...........

spend how much to certify, advertise, and distribute a car that only 300 people would buy (without an automatic)? They would have to price it at 50k to make up for the 20k in marketing costs each car would bear just to get the word out. Utter nonsense! If offered, the manual would account for nearly half of sales. This is a limited production performance car, and the intended market wants the manual. GM did learn (through G8 and Camaro sales) that it doesn't make sense to import a v6 version, but they seem to have missed the memo on the manual transmission. While opinion is divided on the styling, the desire for a manual is overwhelming - just scan around enthusiast sites (the target market). This car is meant to be an enthusiast's car, so the normal dumbing-down to an automatic is exactly the wrong way to sell it. As for marketing, those who want the car already know about it.. And with expected volumes of 3-5000 per year acceptable to Mark Reuss, how much advertising do you need for a car that makes its own news? You have to understand performance cars and performance car buyers - the usual sheeple coddling doesn't apply. Of course, in order to support your statements, you have to make the assumption that enthusiasts and performance car buyers ONLY drive manuals. That's far from true. Not at all. But on a car of this sort, a manual option is required. how many people with the money in hand, ready to spend, when writing the check, will a) buy an SS and b) buy one with a manual. then it's a matter of whether they can cover the cost of it. When it comes down to brass tacks its one of two things, chevy either has determined there is no hard evidence to suggest they can make the numbers work on the manual (internet posters who never buy any new cars and can't probably afford the gas in the beater they already drive are certainly numerous on the net, or they may just simply be waiting some period of time to get the manual out. BMW never has the M version of each of its cars ready at the get go.

Well they had better get another engine in there ASAP then. A nice escape or cx5 is right there next to it.

spend how much to certify, advertise, and distribute a car that only 300 people would buy (without an automatic)? They would have to price it at 50k to make up for the 20k in marketing costs each car would bear just to get the word out.

DRIVEN 2013 Buick Encore FWD Leather 1.4t MSRP about 31 geezles HIGHS Snazzy looking, great styling job on a very challenging package Nice interior, nice leather and plastics, nice dash, nice design Lots of interesting detail inside, snazzy displays and gauges Dashtop screen is surprisingly effective Popular crossover friendly seat height and step in Very good view all around (surprisingly open cabin for a current crossover) Extremely parkable A very good amount of room inside in the passenger compartment, GM does not typically package interior space real effectively For the most part, pretty quiet inside in most driving Good steering feel and an oh so I wanna hold you small steering wheel with leather wrap Vehicle has a nice substantial feel and good ride Once up and running, the 1.4 cruises alright at higher speeds (2500 rpm at 70 mph) Driving position is easy to get where you want and seems able to adapt to a large variety of drivers Manual mode is useful, otherwise tranny shifts decently for moderate driving Really a nice daily shuttle kind of vehicle for most people Vehicle really feels much more useful than it's Sonic cousin due to it's extra usable volume Hatchback utility Ground clearance mpg on the fwd version is not bad Would be a great vehicle for seniors and empty nesters Feels like a 90% version of the Captiva / Vue Makes you want to ignore cars like the Sonic. LOWS 1.4 is not the right engine....it's adequate for a bare minimum at best and sounds and feels a bit rough when even driving moderately Slow to get moving off the line, and slow to kick down for hard acceleration in aggressive driving on the fly Powertrain lacks some smoothness and lets a little too much noise and vibration through for this price of a vehicle Extra girth in cabin width and the seats would be nice (yes I know this is a small car class) Driver's right leg bangs the console Passenger gets screwed out of an armrest (I don't care actually, the driver's is ok) Inherently tall vehicle can feel a bit tippy on the cloverleafs and switching lanes (just part of the package) Vehicle feels quite sedate and somewhat geriatric overall, needs an injection of some pizazz Trunk is useful but could stand to be a little more spacious (the spare tire chews up too much room) Despite it's surprising amount of space, it is a little small inside for a lot of those who may be interested in a Buick crossover (an Equinox sized and packaged Encore would be HUGE in the market) Sorry, it's ambitiously priced. Seriously. Why can't we have a Chevy equivalent? This would sell 100k units a year easy. At this price, the lower end Escapes look really good. SUMMARY I have to compliment GM, the ATS i drove last week and this Encore, both very good vehicles through and through. Both a bit shy on grunt but still despite that very satisfying and well focused vehicles. The Encore is tapping basically a new segment, one that has huge potential. In my short sales experience, I found out how many people wanted a small crossover type vehicle. They wanted something smaller, easy to drive and park, something they could see out of easily and sit up high and see the road....but not something so huge they felt out of control or intimidated. Something that was easy to get in and out of, and something that they could occasionally fold the seat down in the back and carry a big box or two. No one's really tried too hard at doing that yet in this size. But the market is there and this really is about as close to hitting the bullseye as you can get. This is sort of the template for this kind of vehicle in my mind. The only thing GM has missed the boat on initially with this vehicle is lack of engine spunk, and some lack of driving feel and excitement. My only other reservation is the price. As good as the Encore is at a basic level, it's just pricey IMO. 31 grand and still no AWD....2-3 grand too high I think. Until they up the power and make it a little more interesting to drive. Despite marketing this vehicle to younger folks, I think this vehicle might acquire the rep of a geriatric's ride. Maybe that's ok....but I do see more than a handful of old timers driving Veranos too. Maybe that means Buick is attracting new fans in addition to keeping some of it's old ones. Functionally everyday, the lack of power is probably the only thing most of the buyers of this vehicle will have remorse about after a purchase. A bit of finessing of some NVH and powertrain and keeping an eye on the price / value relationship, and managing sales volume and market pricing will be key for this vehicle. I'd be rushing a 1.6t or 1.8t to this thing pronto. Even a diesel might do the trick in this thing. I am pretty tempted to give it an A for what they did do on this thing. But when i consider the slightly ambitious pricing and all the alternatives out there I stick on a B+. The higher price will limit the volume of sales to those who really are looking for a premium crossover in a smaller package. Me, I'd try to stick to a more basic Escape or Outlander Sport and save a bunch of dough. The Buick does feel more premium though, that is for sure. The underlying issue is why the Trax is not hitting the market. GM really should not be excused of that question.

No, it's not. GM would have had to pay to certify that version of the car. Plus, they have to gear up the dealer network to sell another version of the car that likely would not justify each Chevy dealer that is sizable to carry an example of note books in inventory. For a dealer to have 40 grand tied up on a car that may not ever sell for 18-24 months if at all when they could stock 2 cruzes.... RWD plus manual has to have one hell of a business case to justify gearing the dealers up to stock and sell and provide service instruction and parts and training......all I am saying is they need to justify it with a business case. Have you ever thought that maybe it just might be 6 months to a year and maybe we get the 450hp plus stick SS? no idea WTF is up with the screwed up formatting.

That is an absurd statement, Reg. The manual is already in production at Holden, they just have to offer it here.

so you'd rather see GM not be in this segment for 3 more years and deprive those that want a rear drive chevy sedan and a v8.

i read something that said they might consider bringing the SS wagon here, but likely not the Ute.

Get the car here first, add the special versions over time is what they will do. Regal GS showed up as stick only first and now you still see a ton of them unsold or lightly used. I love sticks but honestly the car will launch better with automatic because then the dealer can take them as inventory with the confidence that they can actually end up selling it to a more broad swath of customers. The average redneck that will be interested in this car through a chevy dealer is likely going to want an automatic.

reading the autoblog comments.....so many idiots.......all the people with the stupid comments, and 99% of those commenting can't even afford the gas on their 15 year old beater their parents gave them or they are people who will never buy a brand new car because nothing will never be good enough.

oh that dash is so not sexy.

Verano has a nicer feel but the Cruze is not bad. I would say Verano but I think the base engine in the Verano should get an update.

really people should be happy this car exists at all. some of the other stuff may come later. Get a CTS v is you want all the other stuff. What I am missing, white leather that the commodore has...

the whole point is that it is a niche model. the impala is the volume car.

maybe there would be a market for a company to do their own testing just to publish real world numbers and slander the epa numbers.....i bet that website would get a ton of hits and advertising.

Here in MN e-10 is mandated in the mix, and they are trying to up that to E-15. All it means is for E-10, you get 10% less mpg. You basically are paying a 10% tax to fund the ethanol industry. I would not mind having an E-85 car, i would occasionally buy E-85, but then it would be my choice. You can buy 'small engine gas' here in like 3% of the pumps, whenever I run that in my car, I get 10-15% better mpg instantaneously.

if consumer reports designed a car....

but this car is radically different body, and quite honestly even though the camo is on it, it sort of looks like a turd. Current cruze is a sexy car. Maybe this will be Beretta II, the gun control chevy.

Drew's right. Brilliant move by Dodge. Er, RAM. 30 mpg highway?

might as well just go here then

this could end up another chevy disaster. the current cruze really great styling, the laid back and flowing greenhouse. this does not have the same greenhouse! this is more cab forward instead of cab laid back.