hyperv6

After the Auto Show tour the Malibu is not as crappy as you make it. The Fusion is not much better or worse and many of the other like Kia are just crap. The new Bu will have something as good or even better than the Regal. Each of GM's new cars keep improving on the interior. Until we see the finished product it is foolish to write it off yet. It will be shorter but wider. Widers better or so I was told!

Just some observations at the Cleveland Autoshow. The Buick display had more people than I ever saw looking the new cars. The Regal and Lacross really had a lot of people looking them over. I can remember the last time I had to wait to get into a Buick. I set the wife out to see what she liked. Her present car is the 04 GTP Comp G and her last car was a 97 SSEI. She really likes the Regal and LaCrosse. What shocked me was how she even liked the Verano. She did not even know of one till she saw it and thought it was nice inside and out. To be honest it was a lot nicer than I expected too. Right now if she had to pick a car it would be a Nox or Regal. The Lacrosse would also be considered. I want to try to hold out till the Chevy Sports sedan arrives I think I could talk her into that one too since she did like the G8. But she has to drive it so I will give her last call on what we buy. I don't know if any of you do this but I often will stand watch and listen to many of the people at the show. From what I saw and heard GM is doing well. Even my son picked his cars. The Corvette Carbon Z06 and the CTS V coupe were two he really loved. Good taste for 9 years old. I am doing my part to teach him well and try to bring the youth back to loving cars. He will also know how to drive a standard too before he is 16.

Very true. Too many think with their hearts and not the brains. But if one is passionate about cars it is easy to do.

Camino? Ocnblu? Anyone else? For starters, I don't remember anyone saying GM was going to die without Pontiac. Buick-GMC on the other hand, is a different story. In addition, it was never even stated that GMC-Buick would die in 2011... it was stated that without Pontiac, Buick and GMC either have to water down their product to bring in thrifty young buyers or buyers looking for an inexpensive sporty car or would suffer a long slide as the average B-GMC buyer spirals into the grave. The bottom line is that as of right now, GMC-Buick dealers have about as much new product as can be expected, and yet have huge holes in their product lineup. IIRC, with the exception of the Granite, Buick and GMC have long waits now before anything comes out, and its all going to be more of the same... SUVs and sedans. The clock is ticking before the GMC-Buick dealers demand a Buick Spark. Buick and GMC are on an uptick... but so is the entire market. Buick is still a shell of its former glory, sales-wise, and 90% of GMC is what Chevy is selling cheaper down the block... and faces CAFE image problems. Unless Buick manages to start pulling in very young, new blood, the feeling was that Buick-GMC will join Pontiac in the junkyard in the sky by the end of the decade... and the same people will cheer as GM can SAVE MORE money by only making one car and one truck brand... and everyone can buy them in any color, as long as their black. Honestly, without Pontiac, if Buick can't maintain the current sales momentum even with 3-4 year old models, I still see little reason for them to stick around as a distribution channel. The Chevy-Cadillac model will reign supreme. Hyperbole. You only have to go back to 1999 to find a more profitable GM with Pontiac. Actually, it seems to me that since the IPO, GM's health is already faltering again... without Pontiac dragging it down. No, instead, GM is healthier without Saturn, SAAB (as GM ran it), Hummer and the legacy costs they flushed away in the BK. If Pontiac was maintained as a niche brand, they would be selling MORE cars today... because GM could have kept the unique models Pontiac offered, such as the affordable G6 coupe/convertible, Solstice and the G8 and variants. Anyone looking for these kinds of cars simply DO NOT SHOP at GM 2011, because GM offers nothing comparable. Any GM fan celebrating Pontiac's demise has been drinking too much Toyota brand Kool-Aid. For the record, its my opinion (and several well paid financial writers) that if GM fails, it will be because of a perfect storm... the union will continue its greed ways, CAFE will kill off all the larger vehicles and China will eventually finish off GM at the low end. 1999 - 2009 Were golden years alright. If Lutz had gotten here 5-7 year prior we may still have Pontiac. But as it is he was just too lateand too under funded to do much. Market and buyers have changed. There was not much of a loyal Pontiac following anymore and that is why so few people other than sites like this really were upset with the loss. Lets face it If Buick makes it here or not really matters little as they will live on in China. Pontiac had no such back up fall back plan and it cost them. As you have pointed out the many problems the industry faces. These are signs that the American love affair of the autombile is at a end or great decline. Just look at people today and the reasons they buy and drive the vehicles they do. At one point cars were a reflection of the owners. Today they are just a way to get from place to place. Few people drive Camrys because it reflects good on their image. Time has moved on with many things that were once good in our lives. Sometimes the more we advance the more we decline. We are no longer in the golden era of the automobile. China is the 600 pound gorilla in the room and it will do more than damage our auto industry. Their demand for oil in the next 5 years will increase and if it out strips supplies I would hate to see the price. The unrest in Saudi Arabia is enough to give pause if the world would lose their 10% of oil they add to the world market. There will be some historic and tough times in the future. We now have greed on all levels in Ameica as everyone wants or feels an entitilement things will continue to decline.

To be honest these shots really are showing that this car will suprise a few people that did not believe a decent car was possible out of the camao mess. The longer tail will improve the space which I never had issue with. What it will really improve is the ability to swollow a larger box that would not fit through the short opening. The trunk opening ont he present car is horrible for anything tall. I could load up the present truck well but had to put many items in through the back seat since the short opening would not accept them. A functional trunk in this class is a must and this will solve that major issue issue. Short trunks are sexy and better left to Camaro's and CTS coupes where trunks are less a factor.

It saved them money. Instead of developing an Insignia, Regal, Grand Am, AND an Aura, they developed just the Insignia (and did a great job) and slapped Buick badges on it for the places they don't sell Opel. For people who were in it for the deal, there is the still very nice Malibu. For those who want something nicer and sportier, there is the Regal. Ditto Cobat/G5 - Cruze/Verano Ditto Aveo/G3 - Sonic Only the G8 and Solctice don't have a direct replacement...... yet. And how many cried that GM was going to fail without Pontiac? As I have tried to tell people it is a different world and different car market today. It is either adapt or die. A company can not longer duplicate 5 version of a car and expect to make more money. You can only dilute the pool of cars so much till you end up with 6 weak car divisons or 3 stronger well definded ones. There is only so much money to go around and it gets spred thin and hurts the end product.

Is it known, will it depend, or is it only guesses at this point if these retailers will charge the user to charge their electric car? I have seen the idea where many places will have a card swipe to charge the owner. I could see it being done like on a Best Buys card etc. They could offer reduced rates and even free charges on slow days to bring buyers in. I suspect we will see many marketing plans. They may even make people go in side to activate the charge just to get them in the door. The main goal of any store is to get you in. I really don't think many of these stations will be free. Companies just can't afford to do that long term.

Perhaps I am cynical, but I see Benz' move as a way to force people into the hybrid as a PR move. I wonder how it is selling in comparison to the more genuine, uplevel models. Since when was good PR a bad thing? GM needs all the help it can get. The reputation, integrity, service, and image of a company is as important as the car itself for strong sales. If Cadillac can be viewed as a "smart" brand as much as it's a flashy and powerful one, that will introduce a wider audience of customers to the brand. Mercedes makes hybrids and diesels partly because Europe is full of environmentalists and gas is $6-8 a gallon. Plus governments, which are also full of greenies (especially European ones) buy the S-class. And it is a way to test hybrid technology on the high priced car before price comes down to fit it to a C-class. I would also imagine the S400 hybrid is a small percentage of American S-class sales, and the LS600h and Escalade hybrid are probably even a lower percentage than that. Because people that are worried about saving the planet and being economical and efficient aren't buying a 5,000 lb full size car or SUV. For that reason I think an XTS hybrid would be a slow seller. A person willing to spend an extra $5,000 to "save the planet" isn't looking to buy a 17 foot long Cadillac. Well, gas prices are only going to increase as oil becomes harder and harder to find and more expensive to refine. Might as well prepare for the future. What a novel idea. People for years bought Benz because they considered them more advanced. They for the most were not any more advanced than what GM could do, They just offered more expensive cars they couls more easily show case them in. Today there is no reason Cadillac can not do the same, They just need to make sure it all works and works well. They can not afford a failure of advanced technology. People are just less forgiving of GM. Oil will not become harder to find as we know where a lot of it is but are not being permited to drill. The real issues are things like the protest in the middle east and who will control what supplies. Also the next 4-5 years we are at risk of China's demand out stripping suppies. If that happens prices will skyrocket. Oil will go to the highest bidder.

I have only drive a few of these newer system so I am not up on the latest like on the new LaCrosse. I do find the systems that shut off at lights a little annoying [just my take]. But as time rolls on I think they will make and find systems that will work well and most people will never know they are there. It is kind of like the 8-6-4 Cadillac. It was a mess but today the same idea works and you really can't tell what it is doing. I have many miles with the Chevy truck and Camaro with this system. I think we will see a lot of things tried by a despereate industry. If gas remains high buyers will also be more accpeting. The real issues is as things get even more complicated how we we repair these cars and afford to keep them running. The day is coming there will be few cars over 10 years old on the road. I don't expect the Lacrosse to be observably quicker with the addition of eAssist. It's might have a little better around town feel and that's about it. 15 hp simply isn't enough to make that big a difference. It's cars like the Volt which have the equivalent to a 200+ horsepower gasoline motor with ALL of their torque at low RPM that will be the game changers. In Sport mode, the Volt has a surprising surge of power when you step on the potentiometer. There was a review out there of the Tesla Roadster when they had an Audi R8 follow along. The Tesla was able to walk away from the R8 like it was standing still. The Mini-Cooper with electric motors built into the wheel assembly had close to 600 HP.... so... better than CTS-V power in something the size and weight of a Cooper. Even if the battery added another 300 lbs, you're still about 900lbs less than a V-series. My other reasoning is this. Remember, I work for the 5th largest energy supplier in North America. Most of our clients are big box stores. Some big box stores have already announced charging stations for electric vehicles. (Home Depot, Best Buy) And there are others coming as well. The Volt and Tesla can recharge from a 220v outlet in 4 hours. The Leaf can get to 80% charge in 30 minutes at a "Quick Charge" station. Who here can't see people blowing 1 or 2 hours in a shopping center? This kind of performance from version 1.0 vehicles really impresses me. It's for this reason that I see electric vehicles as the future. I would never discount this system as if it works it could suprise many people. Heck F1 even used the Kers system before some of the crews were getting knocked on their butts from a jolt. Even the Hydrogen Cell Nox I drove would spin the tires and run as well as a gas power. Electric does have it's merits. Now if they can solve the charging issues for batteries and capacity.

I have only drive a few of these newer system so I am not up on the latest like on the new LaCrosse. I do find the systems that shut off at lights a little annoying [just my take]. But as time rolls on I think they will make and find systems that will work well and most people will never know they are there. It is kind of like the 8-6-4 Cadillac. It was a mess but today the same idea works and you really can't tell what it is doing. I have many miles with the Chevy truck and Camaro with this system. I think we will see a lot of things tried by a despereate industry. If gas remains high buyers will also be more accpeting. The real issues is as things get even more complicated how we we repair these cars and afford to keep them running. The day is coming there will be few cars over 10 years old on the road.

No argument there. Companies that make Large luxury or perfromace cars and small economy cars have a great advantage over companies that just make larger luxury cars. This is why we see cars like the Verano being tried. It is also why Aston Martin is now making a Toyota based small car. The way the rules are written it is a mess. I see little chance of it changing as the goverment is now. Given the rules they have to work in building cars today is like building a car with one hand tied behind you back. You meet the goverments needs and you lose customers. You build a car to fit the customers wants you lose CAFE. The trucks are in the same place too. There is no easy out other than either finding a ways to change the rules or building these Frankenstein system. Right now the odd systems are easier than changing the goverment rules. I expect the 3.6 would be standard and a TT v6 as a option on a Platinum edition. The Hybird system is not suicide as at at least they can build a car that will work for most. The other choice is smaller cars with even smaller engines to meet CAFE. That is Suicide. This is why for years we have heard auto leaders say raising the gas tax would be more self regulating and make it easier to give the people what they want. But what elected official is going to call for a large gas tax increase let alone one where gas is already near or at $4.

I don't see Hybrids going into the future so much as a sales ploy as in the past. I see it as a way to keep offering larger comfortable cars while still improving fleet CAFE for the MFG who wants to give the people the kind of car they really want. As a MPG sales ploy they are a failure as owners of these cars just don't care as much as most other owners. With luxury cars it is not so much about MPG for the owners but more about better MPG for Cadillac. If they can make the technology seemless as so the owners don't really notice it will work. As CAFE goes up it will be more and more difficult to offer large powerful cars without some kind of help.

To help judge size based on things we know in the photos how large they are this car leaves me with the impression that it may be similar to the size of as a new Taurus. That also would place it similar in size as the Lincoln. The hood and trunk will get lower as they are padded. The rear deck lid is using a light spoiler on the rear edge that looks similar to the CTS V coupes light. The cover is held up for that. I think most will be fine with this car. I know there will be things that we all would like that it will not get but it will still be a great improvment over the present DTS and in many ways the STS. This is not the flagship so it is not the ultimate Caddy, yet it still will be a very good car for many in this price class. I too felt the new small Buick was a silly little car but was shock at how nice it really is. Just something about seeing a car in person that brings the reality of what it is home that a photo let alone a camo photo just can't do. GM is not going to home run every car but the good solid hit do add up to runs in the end.

I wonder if they are counting in this 53% Enterprise changing from the G6 to the Malibu? Pontiac lost a lot of traditional loyal buyers over the years. From 79 on their sales would ebb and flow based on if they had an interesting model to offer. The last few years many were buying G6's and G5's because they had had a good car with really cheap prices on them. The people I know who bought them did not buy Pontiac they bought cheap monthly payments. Now when these people come back to buy GM will only retain them if they have a car they feel is a good value. They for sure did not buy for performance or excitement. Now with the G8 buyers they are more of the traditional buyer. The key here is to get them into a Camaro or the Chevy sport sedan when or if it arrives. These though few buyers really represent a Pontiac performance buyer. I would like to see how these buyers chose their new cars in the coming years. The Solsitce was nearing the end even if Pontiac has survived. I really have to beleive it would have lasted a couple more years and would have gone away. The economy and the limited sales market for small 2 seaters is hard to keep alive long term. The Miata and Vetter are the few that do well. Even the Vette Sales tanked last year.

Don't know. 3.0L I had not heard day TT but it I was hoping they would at least offer the 3.0 TT or what ever TT they would have at release. This would have much more appeal for a buyer in this class. It also makes sense of the Brembo's on the front. With AWD it may be a intersting package. Can you give us any idea how much larger this car is over the Buick? I suspect it is longer and a little wider from what you can see.

Well this car can not be comnpared to the LaCrosse. It will feature content and items not available in a Buick. Nor would Buick be able to offer the same items at a similar price to their line of cars. I think the content of this car will set it appart from anything Buick will have. I expect to see items in this car not seen on any other GM or competitor cars. Also from the photos [i know it is hard to judge from a photo] the car appears longer and wider than the Buick There is no reason GM could not stretch the platform is both ways. It does have some flexibility. I do like the dash as it screams Cadillac in a very nice way. It has a modern art deco look about it like Harley Earl would would to if he was still around.

I have nothing bad to say yet. Too much is covered to be fair. The wheels are cool. I just wonder what kind of power we will see here and how appealing it will be to buyers.

There had been some word the CTS would grow a little in size. I suspect they will move it up to go better head to head. I would expect the CTS will offer things that the ATS will not have to give some incentive to move up for those with the funds.

The size looks good. It will be intersting to see if it does get the glass touch screen dash and if it works well. It can be any worse than I Drive. I just hope they can grow the CTS and not hurt its sales. I would hate to see the CTS buyers just move to the ATS and leave it high and dry like they did the STS. I really would love to see a lot of conquest sales for the ATS. I shocked no one has complained about the b pillar yet. It just seemed like a tradition for every new Caddy. They may be saving it for the coupe?

A much better grill.

Even back in the late 70's we had a Serria Grande just like the one Rocky had on the Rockford files. I would love to have one like that again. The silver and maroon inset with the bed rails was just cool. It was so cool it was stolen and replaced with one just like it. The guy who stole it turned it into a Silverodo and got caught with it 8 years later. We bought it back and drove it 8 more years since he did not put miles on it. He did add power windows, buckets, Power locks and tilt. It is a easy upgrade if you run a chop shop.

Yes it is. Something majorly different is going on here, tho. Teaser shot shows a hood/cowl so high it's nearly at the top of the sideview mirror, at least 3/4 the way up it, yet the middle shot, complete with blocking on the fender tops, sure looks a lot lower. Cowl height is a rigid hard point. Unless... the camo truck actually is missing the hood and the blocking is on the inner fender tops. There does seem to be a lot of the wipers showing. If that's right, GM is really playing 'dirty pool' with us peekers. It is too hard to judge on this image alone. One issue is a computer or computer enhanced image and not the real thing. It also is distorted as when look at the photo it is a little out of proportion compared to the spy shots. GM is not giving a clear shot even with a undisguised image. GM is good at hiding things in plain sight.

I too am hoping they do more than just a grill change on this one like they did ont the Full Size GMC. Just please no oversized cheap plastic grills. What vehicle today doesn't use a stock OEM plastic grille? Pretty much everything on the market under $75k comes with a plastic grille (I'm just making that up, just in case someone says that the XYZ Supercar priced at $100k comes with a metal or some other type of non-plastic grille ) I see a lot of Equinox/Traverse in the Chevy Colorado replacement truck, which is fine because it meshes well as a "family". On that note, let's hope that the GMC version (I'm hoping for the revival of "Sonoma" over the re-use of "Canyon" btw) takes after the Terrain and Sierra HD (and the Sierra HD All Terrain Concept) for its boxier, professional grade style. Sorry I guess I should explain better on the Cheap plastic grill comment. I know almost all have plastic [except for my nickel plated GP grill] grills. What I mean are the plastic grills that look as cheap as they are. Many are well done and hide the cheapness in good styling or color. On the other hand trucks like the Silverodo adn even the 90's S10 looked every bit as cheap as they are. As they age the plastic chrome looks like crap with chips and dings. My Inlaws all Lincoln was in pretty good shape but the grill shell took a toll on the car. The stones tore it up while the headlights and paint were ok. Another example of a grill that upclose that looks as cheap as it is would be the Terrain. On the road it looks ok up close it looks cheap as it hs little depth. I agree as the first time I saw this nose a while back it looked like the new Chevy face. The new Malibu will also draw on this with similar grill and hood lines. I wonder how much of this may find its way on the new full size trucks in the future. I hope they just do something on the large grill. I would love to see the center chrome but have some color offsets to the head light area to break up the chome. Some chrome is needed but not head light to head light.

I too am hoping they do more than just a grill change on this one like they did ont the Full Size GMC. Just please no oversized cheap plastic grills. GMC has a lot of potential that has yet to be realized IMO. What's interesting though is that I really like the Sierra, but hate the Silverado. In fact, if I were buying a truck right now, the Sierra Denali would be my first choice. I agree with you on this. I have always favored the GMC as it has always had the better nose even when the bodies were Identical. I have owned more GMC trucks vs Chevy because of the grills alone. The Silverodo just never worked for me. The big chrome plastic grill is almost as bad as the F250 Superduty. I just don't go for the big rig look on pick ups. I do see GMC being able to offer items at a higher price and lower volume so this just increases the potential of the limited market for some options.

GM already showed us that a 2-door Theta is possible: 2007 SATURN PREVUE Concept: I loved this when it came out as it was just one of the best looking SUV's around. Anything is possible in the show car world. The translation to production at a low price and weight often is the problem. The othe issue is how many people will really buy it. While some are under the delusion that everyone wants a 2 door the sales numbers prove otherwise outside of sport coupes like the Camaro and Mustang. I love a 2 door and would love to see more but then reality sinks in. The smaller cars get the more doors people want. The world has moved on from what many enthusiast want. Hell one of the few vehicles I never thought would sell like the 4 door Wrangler has been a run away hit. If people will go for an ugly 4 door Wrangler where will it ever stop.