As strange and absurd as it may sound to our North American readers, the new Opel Insignia is sold in China under the Buick Regal nameplate. And how about here in the States, we hear many of you asking. Well, the Insignia was supposed to arrive in the form of the next generation Saturn Aura in a year or two, but GM's economic woes have reportedly put a hold on the U.S. market debut of the sleek looking sedan until further notice. If you want our opinion, we would have found it more rational for GM to introduce Opel's models under the Buick logo and do away with Saturn, but then again, we're no high-rank execs...
Back to the new China-only Buick Regal, the mid-size sedan differs from its German counterpart only in a few cosmetic details like the front grille, the side air vents and the exterior mirrors.
On sale now in China, the new Regal sedan is offered with two 4-cylinder petrol engines, a naturally aspirated 2.4-liter unit with 165HP and a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine producing 217HP. Both engines are matted to a standard six-speed manual gearbox with Buick announcing 0 to 100km/h (62mph) times of 9.8 and 7.8 seconds for the Regal 2.4L and 2.0T respectively.
Source: Buick , Via: Autoblog.com
13 Comments:
I just don't get why we get the Lucerne and Lacrosse and China (China!) gets this beautiful vehicle. It is not the economy that is to blame for GM's woes it is their own shortsightedness and lack of caring for its core market.
Oh my heavens, I am stunned! Looking at this impressive vehicle and then think about what we have here in our showrooms - no wonder they are headed down the tubes here. This car is amazing and should be sold here. We should import this thing from China (since we get everything else from there). Send over the sport wagon version and I will be the first in the showroom. By the way, the Buick Park Avenue that is sold in China is simply stunning. GM you have only yourselves and your shortsightedness to blame.
Agreed! Ford produces some great vehicles in Europe and we get (well, you know!!). Also, our government should ease up on some of their ridiculous regulations that stymie innovation and growth.
Makes you wonder in amazement about what on earth goes on those boardrooms??
A whole lot of loving
I put the blame on Lutz & Wagoneer Buick needs more then 3 cars. They need the Park Avenue, a vert, a coupe and the covette has no business as a chevy
For some strange reason, American car companies think that American people want bland cars that neither excite or invite too much interest. They continually think this despite their slow sales and continued loss of market share to better designed and more expensive cars.
Just announced: it is coming to US, to be slotted below the LaCrosse by a couple grand. It will cost less because it looses the side laminated glass and 6" of wheelbase to the LaCrosse. But if it didnt come as a Buick, we would've gotten it anyway as a replacement for the Aura.
Such European-inspired Buick will set new standard in Chinese bourgeoning premium-midsize market,dominated by the likes of Toyota Camry,Honda Accord,and Nissan Teana.
And it is very interesting that Opel Insignia-based new Buick will appear just under the Buick LaCrosse near future! If realized,it's the very key to retrieve Buick brand's traditional attributes,as precisely-engineered,technically state-of-art,sound automobiles.
Personally speaking,the designition "Buick Regal" means the symbol of splendid combination of serene elegance and spunky performance in my image,with an example of 1975 Buick Regal 350(165bhp/37.3kgm) reaching up to 135mph!! In such sense,the latest Buick Regal made from 1996 to 2004 was just off the mark,piece of junk. She was just a crap,compared with Accords and Camrys,and lead the GM's bankrupt.
To recover from such disaster,I do hope the new Buick Regal will reborn in USA market,based on Opel Insignia!
I had bought a used 2001 Regal in 2007 and as much as I liked the body style, I was unhappy with the defects and repairs since then.(sucker) I mainly bought the Regal for the proven drive train and economy for it's size.
This Regal featured here, I wouldn't mind seeing here sooner than later, but with a stronger more reliable drive train and possibly even the new generation of diesels/hybrids. A Regal wagon version also sounds like a great idea.
The unions have had their part in GMs downfall along with the oil companies.
I just drove the 2010 Buick Lacrosse. GREAT CAR!!! I'm convince that Buick quality has improved drastically in all aspects. I'll be more than glad to test drive the new Regal and be, maybe, a Regal owner.
Hey folks,
The Regal is coming to the US next year. It will be a winner--I drove the Opel version in Germany. As for comments on Bob Lutz--you can thank him for keeping the GM ship afloat.
Its true - the " new" Buick Regal is in fact the German / UK developed OPEL/VAUXHALL Insignia! Its just that as always GM is having huge difficulties (unlike FORD ) in getting even this simple act to-gether!
It is time GM at least for Europe recruits a new dynamic European CEO that is something of an entrepreneur that at the sametime can also handle and woo the simple but somewhat vain European politicians. This has been missing at GM Europe for years and poor Forster from BMW was foundering out of his depth with this for a long time and without understanding or support from the Detroit Mandrins that thought they knew it all!
They were having their own problems trying to "run" GM! IN fact it was the other way round and GM was running its own board for years - see poor luckless Wagoner! He must have been chosen by Ford or Toyota?
Fritz Henderson - now the ball is very much with YOU!
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