| kumbo1 | 01-11-2009 02:52 PM |
2011 Buick Regal
Just a few weeks ago GMI reported that the much-coveted Buick Regal that just launched in China recently was not yet approved for the North American market. At the time of that publication, General Motors was still pondering as to whether or not the car would be a suitable fit for North America. Overnight GMI learned that yesterday General Motors officially approved (“greenlighted”) the Regal for North America.
Although the program is in the very early stages, some details of the new Regal for North America are known. The car is going to be nearly identical to the Chinese Regal, which is simply an Opel Insignia with Buick bright-work. The main difference, we’re told, is going to be the engines. In China the Regal sells best with a four-cylinder. That likely would not be the first choice for American’s in a mid-luxury vehicle. To our knowledge GM has not selected the engines that will be used in the North American Regal. If we were to guess, a direct-injected four-cylinder and a direct-injected High-Feature V6 will likely be involved.
Despite the fact that this car is so close to being ready for North America, we’re hearing the car may not show up on dealership lots here in the U.S. until 2011! Why it will supposedly take that long to launch it in North America is largely unknown. The obvious issue is likely production. The Regal will be built somewhere in North America. GM’s Oshawa, Ontario or Fairfax, Kansas plants are the likely picks.
Last Summer GMI broke news that the next-generation Saturn Aura had been put on hold. The next-generation Aura was supposed to be a rebadged Opel Insignia just as this new Buick Regal turned out to be. We have not heard a word about the future of the Aura, leading us to believe that there is virtually no chance now of a rebadged Insignia becoming our Saturn Aura. Now that the Regal is coming, it would make little sense to have the Aura be the same car.
GMI has been hearing more and more tid-bits claiming that Buick is going to tie-up with Opel on products in the future; much like Saturn was going to. With Opel moving upscale in Europe, it makes them a prime fit for Buick in China and in North America. Particularly true when considered that Opel has not done much of anything in China and GM is considering “options” with the Saturn brand in North America.
It is possible that GM will move up the production schedule on the new Regal to a time that is less extreme than 2011 (if possible). As we stated, the program is in its early stages so things will likely change. The good news here is that the U.S. is getting the Regal! The question now is "when?" http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/g...edium/reg1.jpg http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/g...edium/reg8.jpg http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/g...dium/reg10.jpg | 