gavriil

Source: http://www.carspyshots.net

gavriil

Did they drill through that wood panel to place the laptop holder?

heyitsme

Doesn't look like buick is moving upscale at all.

Loseit

iTrader: (1)

looks kinda for 500ish.

AsianRage

Doesn't look that bad... Interesting.

Moog-Type-S

Interior is getting better for GM...still far from the imports.
Get rid of the modular radio that fits in any GM car, and get rid of the analog clock.

AcuraGT-3

Note to Buick, the Infiniti Q45 was a failure and a design mess, you don't want to mimic that car.

Funny, I thought they said they were going to copy Lexus?

It even has a nice circle clock. OOOOOOHHHHHH, how luxurious that clock is

Where is the NAV?

titan

Hehehe.

titan

The size looks perfect for flagship status. I think final judgement should be saved for when the tape is gone... I think it'll look good. The grill worrys me a little, because it doesn't mimick the Lucerne's (which mimicks the awesome Velite concept). I also dont' see portholes yet, which is a great styling feature that should be put on all future Buicks, IMO. The interior looks really classy; my only change would be taking out the modular radio (you're right, Moog), and putting in a standard screen, whether it's got the navi or not. Besides that, I think the interior looks good. It's a nice mix of wood, plastic, and chrome. Another big problem is there the door is placed in relation to the wheels. It's looking like Buick will have an all FWD sedan lineup, instead of the RWD lineup they need to battle Lexus.

biker

GM is bleeding cash but they have money to take a test mule to Australia? Is Arizona not hot enough for hot weather testing?

SPUDMTN

Holden...GM...Holden...GM

titan

It was tested in Australia because that where it originates. Holden's developing this car.

youngTL

The first thing I thought when I read the name 'Lausanne' was 'Roseanne'...the car kinda reminds me of her. Fat and ugly. Come on Buick! What's with the bulbous designs? A little square never hurt anyone. I want good vehicles to come out of the Buick division. This car looks like it should cost about the same as the Avalon. If they don't price it like that or lower, it probably won't sell.

titan

^ Well, one thing's for sure. It'll be more than the Avalon. It's the flagship, so it'll be the most expensive model. And the Lucerne will probably top out in the low $40s with the Northstar. If I'm not mistaken, this car comes with that standard, so it'll be atleast as much as the most expensive Lucerne.

titan

Buick is huge in China. This could be a China spec model coming from Australia. It has yellow Chinese plates, and a horizontal grill (used in China).

youngTL

Then they're fucked. Who is going to pay that much for a Buick? It just doesn't have the brand image YET! Does anyone remember what happened to the Volkswagen Phaeton? It's like that on a lesser scale.

MSZ

I won't be surprised if that thing ends up as a China-only model.

Ever heard of Buick Royaum? Another Holden-based sedan for the Chinese market:

titan

I don't think so. The problem is, those prices aren't bad if the product justifies it. Sadly, they product isn't quite there yet. The Lacrosse is close, but could be so much better. The Lucerne looks even closer, but from it's specs it's not quite there yet. If this car makes it to the U.S., it'd be even closer, IMO. I'm diggin' the interior, but it's FWD and the powertrains won't be where they need to be. I don't know China's markets, so that's different. It may be perfect for China.

gavriil

Pontiac GTO is Back at ‘Full Tilt’ - - By GREG KABLE - - Source: Autoweek

SpeedyV6

The gist I get from this article is that there is a lot of second guessing and backpedaling going on at GM and Lutz is struggling to do his best to put a positive spin on it. I get the idea that GM's management is totally scatterbrained and barely has any notion how it should proceed at this point.

titan

I think the Statesman name is okay for there flagship... I was hoping they'd bring back the Invicta name.

gavriil

I think no names are good. Buick, like Lincoln, in 3-4 years will realize that alphabetical naming is what's needed. So all these names will go eventually.

titan

That's an interesting prediction. I wondered if they'd go that route myself. I was against Lincoln's name changes until I heard their reasoning, and it's makes perfect sense. Giving the cars alpha-numeric names means the focus is on the car brand; not the individual car. It's a move I think they need to make, IMO.