VenSeattle

That's exactly what I'm expecting too. Looks promising. It's actually possible for Buick's global sales to match its heyday levels of 800k-900k back in the 1980s.

The Statesman mentioned in the article is not referring to the current Statesman rebadge built for Chinese market. It's the one that will be built on the same platform for the next gen GTO: The next gen Statesman could be built here for the NA market (as the article hints) and built in Australia for the Chinese market. Same vehicle, but built in two countries.

I can handle the NA Buick Flagship being called Statesman. No problem with the name what-so-ever. Sounds powerful, formal, and expensive.

American Honda Sales Increase 8.7 Percent to New February Record Torrance, Calif. 03/01/2006 -- American Honda Motor Co., Inc., is posting record February vehicle sales of 106,644, up 8.7 percent, led by increases for its most popular models including the all-new Civic and the re-designed Accord, up 37.6 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively. Year-to-date sales of 205,038 are up 14.1 percent. Honda Division is posting record February sales of 92,498 cars and light trucks, an increase of 12.8 percent, with additional records broken for total Honda truck sales of 41,980 and Pilot sales of 10,901. Year-to-date, Honda Division is up 18.1 percent with sales of 176,911. Civic sales of 24,722 include 1,780 Civic Hybrids (up 31.6 percent) and Accord sales of 25,285 include 783 Accord Hybrids. February combined sales of Honda's three hybrid vehicles are up 18.2 percent to 2,635, and up 47.5 percent for the year to 6,210. February marks the first full year for the Ridgeline with sales cumulatively reaching 50,892, on-track with its 12-month sales target of 50,000 units. "The American consumer is re-discovering cars and the timing for the all-new 2006 Civic couldn't be better," said Dick Colliver, executive vice president of American Honda. "The Civic has been strong out of the gate and Honda's diverse lineup of light trucks has set a record for four consecutive months." Acura Division posted sales of 14,146 with record TSX sports sedan sales up 1.4 percent. The TL performance luxury sedan continued as Acura's top-selling model with February sales of 5,169.

Love their educated estimates. Industry watchers seem to be off quite a bit lately. Frankly, I don't think the minimal drop from GM warranted an article title of "Minus Motors" : Torrance CA - March 1, 2006 - Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., today reported best-ever February sales of 166,940 units, an increase of 2.4 percent over the same period last year. Torrance, Calif. 03/01/2006 -- American Honda Motor Co., Inc., is posting record February vehicle sales of 106,644, up 8.7 percent

I think you forget GM's multiple choices and brands came before Toyota's "one-model-fits-all", so GM's multiple choices are not a reaction to the Camry. Cars did not use to cover a $15,000 price range like the new Camry does.

I already have the rain-sensing wipers on my Park Avenue and they work flawlessly. I never have to adjust them. Just turn them on and forget about them. I don't recall anything out of the ordinary when driving the Lucerne, so they must have operated just as well.

I drove the CXL V6 on a rainy & windy day (Seattle... go figure) and the outside noise was minimum, so I'd agree and say it had to be a door seal.

also... check out their screen savers. They're starting to introduce the "all chrome" Buick tri-shield sans red-white-blue. I have a strong feeling that almost all Buicks starting with the Enclave will be sold in both markets. The model names, styling, and now badges, are all starting to unify. Excellent.

How about that... Same interior. I hope that's another sign of things to come.

I've test driven the CXL V6, and its performance is fine for the target market. It didn't feel strained at all.

In addition to the above links, here are a few more links I found also that may be of interest: http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/TA/354.pdf Autoweek's article regarding GM's campaign: http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...E/60206015/1041

Hopefully, GM will combine E85 capable engines with hybrid technology, I think that would more than offset the faster burning E85 over just gas alone. Sounds good to me.

Yeah... this is already being discussed here: http://www.cheersandgears.com/forums/index...?showtopic=6268 directing conversation of the Chinese LaCrosse to that topic.

You go Lucerne! Keep up the good work and make us proud!

what I remember reading was that the 9-series idea was abandoned in favor of the baby Rolls. I've never read BMW considering both. Interesting.

Just FYI... If my references are correct, the Edsel line-up was: Edsel Ranger Edsel Pacer Edsel Corsair Edsel Citation Oh... Did the Edsel Comet become a Mercury instead?

Welcome Aboard!

Wow... Nice! With China getting the 'LaCrosse', I'll take that as a hint to China & NA line-ups eventually consolidating into a single global product line. I'd love for them to bring this vehicle over here as the replacement for the current LaCrosse. The front, rear, interior, side mirror turn signals, etc... all need to be here for 2007. Thegriffon, can you get us more specs on this?

Well, after reading it... I wouldn't want credit for the research performed either.

Why wouldn't it be sold in Japan? Toyota sells the RWD GS & LS in Japan, and Nissan sells a version of the M45 (Fuga) & Q45(Cima) in Japan. All of them would be similar in size to a potential RWD Legend/RL replacement.

Yeah... Isn't the next 7-Series suppose to share the new platform being developed for the rumored "baby" Rolls? Last time I read, it's expected around 2010.

Near the bottom of the article:

In the above picture, from the dashshelf down to the wood trim(Center Stack, Instrumentation, DIC, passenger airbag cover, Air vents, door speakers) is all hard plastic. Am I complaining? NO. There's nothing wrong with its application. It looks fine. It's not offensive by any means. The dash is very easy to clean and maintain. Yes, the styling is traditional but the interior flows together nicely and is very well thought out. I still love it after all these years. No squeaks, rattles, loose panels, etc. The panel on the lower part of the dash (left to the glove compartment) is where the ashtray opens up/folds down. The panel cover is hard plastic while the rest of the lighter colored lower dash is soft and spongy (including the glove compartment door.) Even in person you can't tell they're made of different materials without touching them. The plastic panel cover is around 1/5" thick and is very strong/sturdy. It's not paper thin or brittle. The Lucerne’s dash is probably similar in thickness, if not more so. I doubt the Lucerne's dash will ever crack, break, dent, fade, etc. I also anticipate it will continue looking new ten years from now with low maintenance damp-rag care (or in the sunny states some type of agent to protect from severely excessive sun exposure). --------------- As for the Lucerne passenger airbag, it appears the airbag deploys from above the wood trim when it's activated -------------- And yes... this has been beaten to death. --------------

Sorry, but one look alone will say otherwise. See the interior door panels on the LeSabre compared to the Park Avenue for confirmation. OC would have to chime in and certify if the materials used in the 2000 LeSabre are actually higher quality than the 1997 Park Avenue, but I suspect they aren't. There are proper and improper uses of Hard Plastic. Where it is on the Park Avenue is fine. There's no reason someone would come in contact with it. The lower part of the dash is soft/padded plastic, which includes the glove box door. The ashtray cover is hard plastic but grained/dyed perfectly to be invisible with the surrounding soft plastics. The PA interior, although traditionally styled, is high quality and well made. The Lucerne is to. The lower plastic is hard, but dyed and grained to blend in with the door panels and center console. The Lucerne would benefit from the DTS's softer lower plastic, but the Lucerne is less expensive than the 2000-designed LeSabre and even the 1997-designed Park Avenue. As mentioned before... for $10,000k less it's a small matter to fret over so much.