smk4565

That isn't perception, that is truth, the average age of a Buick sedan buyer is 67. Build a conservative looking, soft riding, full size sedan with oversized buttons and clocks on the dash and you'll get that demographic. "The only way to travel is Buick style" is my guess. Otherwise they will just use whatever Lexus used 10 years ago, since they want to be like Lexus but are several years behind them.

The Fisker Karma is the direction Cadillac should be looking, electric with performance. If this is front drive, the SRX is front drive, Escalade moves to Lambda and DTS is front drive, that is a whole lot of front drivers. The STS and XLR are expected to die off, so just the CTS is left for rear drive Cadillacs. What happened to rear wheel drive and V8s?

This is a good plan and should have been started 2 years ago. Saab, Hummer and Saturn should go fast. I suspect Pontiac will close down around 2012, and GMC will stay because a stand alone Buick dealership would never survive. GMC could also be the fleet and medium duty truck sales outlet.

Why did they release info on a dedicated hybrid whose only selling points are economy and that it is a cheap way to get Lexus, and not include any gas mileage figures? They are selling fuel economy, but make no mention of what it is, at least estimate a number based on testing. This is a dumb car that dilutes the Lexus brand. a hybrid IS250 would have made more sense.

Lutz even said the "Voltec" (I guess that is like Vortec for the 21st century) technology could be used with different battery and engine sizes. Why not double or triple the battery capacity and use a more powerful engine, so it can go 80 miles on a charge, and has 200 kilowatts, rather than 120. Or scrap the 4 cylinder all together and replace that space with more battery. And drive the rear wheels. If they kill the STS and move Escalade to Lambda, the CTS is the only rear driver left. I wonder what the Volt and this thing weigh, because they have a gas engine, plus electric drive and batteries, this could be a 4,000 pound compact, so handling probably won't be a strong suit. There are a lot of challenges in making an electric car, and unless it performs as well as gas, and is equal or less total cost of ownership, people aren't going to switch to it.

The Lexus HS250h has too many H's in the name and it looks too like a Corolla with a Fusion grille, but it is actually 6 inches longer than the Corolla so maybe it is more Prius than Corolla. Either way it isn't very expensive or nice looking. As far as the Cadillac, it should perform like a CTS otherwise it shouldn't be a Cadillac. Make Chevy and Buick versions if they want front drive and soft riding at a reasonable price point. Cadillac lacks brand focus, and they haven't been able to create that elite upscale image. Cadillac should be making high tech, high performing, high style cars that can get $50-100k without need for rebate or incentive.

I don't like that it is front wheel drive and probably performs the same as the Volt. 120 kilowatts is 160 hp, a 160 hp front driver is not a Cadillac. A Cadillac electric car should perform like the Tesla, it should be fast and handle well. As far as looks, the Cien type rear end is good, but the headlights and tail lights sweep too much into the body of the car, and I don't like the hatch look, it looks too Japanese. I would rather see a traditional looking coupe.

One thing that they did very well that GM tends to struggle with is the inside of the doors. The arm rest, leather with the vertical stitching and the wood all tie in well and it looks good. No plastic seatbacks either, and I noticed heated and cooled front seats and heated rear seats. Ford did a great job with this vehicle.

The tail lights look like the Camry, the front looks almost Korean and the quad fog lights is just odd. I don't know what they were thinking, because the S-class, C-class and CLS all look pretty good and they look like a Mercedes. The interior is traditional Mercedes, but the exterior doesn't look how a Mercedes should.

STS is common in Western PA, I think for a few reasons. It had awd in 2005-2007 when the CTS didn't, and the population is older and the STS was usually discounted a good bit. Used ones are really cheap. Now that the CTS is awd and so many other cars offer it, the STS lost that advantage.

It is fantastic. I like the front end a lot. Big cars are declining so it won't set sales records like the 1986 version, but this Taurus is far superior to the Impala, Lucerne, Maxima, and the Charger/300 unless you are only looking at rear drive.

Lexus GS and IS are DI also, that is why they make 304 hp, and the ES, RX and Camry are 268-270. The BMW sixes with 250 hp (X3, X5, 330i) have it also, the 328i does not. Any turbo BMW has it. GM wants to make it seem like they were first to use direct injection but it was has been around for 3-4 years. What I want to know is if the Lexus HS250h is a Corolla in disguise, if so that is really lame. However, a Buick done like that could work, because they aren't trying to compete with Mercedes.

The LS460 V8 is direct injection, that came out for the 07 model year, the 2006 Lexus GS300 had a direct injection V6. The current GS460 makes 340ish hp because it is not DI like the LS motor is. It's not a two-mode, but they have a hybrid system, and the Lexus hybrids do fairly well in mileage. Hard to judge them because there are no other luxury hybrids but the Escalade with 20 mpg.

But does it sell and is there demand for a performance Buick? An average handling rear drive car would be far superior; people that want performance or handling can choose from a dozen rear drivers that will do it better.

I don't think they will do a Super model, it will torque steer too much, 280 hp is pushing it for front drive. Unless they do a turbo 3 liter V6 and all wheel drive, like the Ford Ecoboost cars. I am not sure why awd isn't available with the 3.6 liter, but to do a Super they'd have to make it awd.

Because it is Lexus LS460 exhaust pipes and a BMW 5-series tail lights. Everyone here criticizes BMW styling (I myself don't like it) yet that is what Buick copied.

Saab is a lost cause, better to spend that money on Chevy and Buick. The Malibu Hybrid just finished last place in a Car and Driver comparison, they need to constantly update Chevys to keep pace with the Japanese, and a resurging Ford.

Fiesta is way better, GM is somewhat clueless when it comes to small vehicles.

Say goodbye to the Aura (probably the whole brand). Aura and Regal are identical in dimensions.

This is the best Buick ever built, but I think it will fall short of sales expectations, unless the CX model has a low base price and they can steal some Impala or Lucerne sales. The problem with trying to be Lexus, is Lexus does Lexus better than anyone else can. Buick should be American and create their own identity. Lincoln is at least trying to do this, their product looks unique and American. This car is kind of like the Genesis in how it looks like they just took design cues from a lot of other cars. Weight is too high on this car. GM needs to build lighter weight cars, that is why they get beat in fuel economy. Most Fords are a lot lighter, that is why the MKZ beats LaCrosse in mileage, 2010 Fusion 4-cylinder is best in class, Fusion hybrid is best in class, Escape hybrid is the most fuel efficient suv, etc.

Cadillac has nothing that goes against an LS460, Buick never will. GM doesn't have an 8-speed or a direct injection DOHC V8 or a chassis for it, the only piece they have is the 2-mode hybrid, which has yet to be used on a car. Lexus had all that 2 years ago, GM should have been working on that stuff, but they wasted money on Saturn, Saab, Hummer, and full size SUVs.

The SRX is still larger than the RX350, but they went the wrong direction with it. They will lose current SRX owners, and won't steal any away from Lexus, Lexus retains customers like crazy. The air vents in the SRX, Equinox and LaCrosse are too similar. It's not a Cadillac if there are all kinds of similarities with Chevy and Buick. Cadillacs have to offer value to make people want to spend $50,000 on a new one, rather than just waiting for a 1-2 year old used model that sells for $25k.

Best Buick ever, but they'll never hit 70,000 units a year. Headlights from the Accord, 5-series tail lights, Lexus LS exhaust pipes, and a Malibu-like side profile is just taking what others already did and merging it, that is out of the Hyundai playbook. Wood trim looks really fake, although the dash materials and leatherette with the stitching look nice. I like the contour line along the side of the car, that is unique and looks good, but I hate the venti-ports on top of the hood and don't like that it is over 4,000 pounds. Can GM make anything that isn't obese? A question I have about the 3.0 V6, is why peak torque is hit at 5900 rpm, when BMW's 3 liter hits it around 2800 rpm.

If GM's 388k sales of midsizers is 25% of the market, then the Camry which sells around 450,000 a year must be 30% share off one vehicle. Likewise for the Accord. GM's brands have been losing buyers for years because of lackluster product. The brand loyalty argument of, "we can't kill Buick GM will lose 150,000 sales a year" but Buick has lost 700,000 annual sales since 1988. The customers are leaving anyway. Market share also does not equal profit, it is something GM has relied on because they had to stay big to pay all the legacy costs and keep union members working, because otherwise they pay them anyway to sit in the jobs bank. The decision to what models to cut are easy: All Saabs All Hummers G3, G5, G6 G-bodies W-bodies Saturn brand (Astra to Pontiac, Aura/Insignia becomes Regal, Sky moves to Chevy or Buick, theta crossover to Buick) Yukon, Yukon XL and Denali Canyon/Sierra/Savana are sold as work trucks (fleet/business) only, regular trims cut Escalade EXT STS Add: Fiesta/Fit rivaling Aveo replacement Cruze Malibu (updated interior, 2-mode hybrid option) Chevy minivan Zeta Impala (G8 can die if they do this) Buick Delta II sedan Cadillac Alpha sedan/coupe/convertible CTS sedan/coupe/wagon to Sigma III and add $12k to price Cadillac flagship XLR, start over from scratch on C7 platform

Maybe, but the SRX looks like crap.