Chicagoland

People here are complaining, but are not the target buyers. Sorry, the Grand National, Roadmaster, Century, and Regal names are not coming back.

The grille is a true Pontiac look. Reminds me of 71-72 Bonnevilles.

The Cobalt sedan hould get the round taillights, especially if they decide to sell the Pontiac Pursuit. The rears of the Cobalt and G6 4 doors are borrrrrrring.

Some history: Chevelle SS was the true muscle car, not all Chevelles. If one actaully lived in the 'glorious muscle car era' they'd have seen that most mid sized Chevies were not SS's. Common power was 2 barrel 307 or 350 v8's and were commuter cars. And yes, 1 barrel 6's too, more then one thinks. There were even Chevelle wagons and four doors! By 1971, 'Chevelle" was the plain models, and Chevelle Malibu was the more popular trim. By 1974, SS's were only ElCaminos, and by 1978, Malibu took over completely. ============================================= Any two door only 4 seater, compact sized, sporty car by Chevy should be called Camaro, not Chevelle. To be correct, the a car the size of the current Monte Carlo or GTO would be a "Chevelle".

Buick can't just dump the W body. People still forget that they are not a separate car company. GM runs all the divisions, save Cadillac, which can afford to be more autonomous. Buicks sucess depends on GM getting out of it's predicament.

Make cars people want to buy, emulating the 60's cars. An no not all BOF rwd, but desirable cars that get good MPG with power and style.

The pint of the article is that some of the things that were dragging them donw are being dealt with, such as trimming costs. So, he has no excuses if any cars flop later on. But, if they are as good as predicted, word of mouth will be the best advertising.

"Toyota is ramping up Priuses" Like most blinded by Toyotas shininess, they forget about the whole plant being built to make full sized trucks in San Antonio. Not to mention that they still churn out big trucks in Indiana, and no they DO NOT make a Hybrid pickup. Also, no gas powered Lexus can be called a fuel sipper. And the Prius is not going to "save" America. An average family can't afford one, and can't fit in it too! Go to a dealer to buy one and you get put on a list, then have to pay over sticker. How is making dealers filthy rich supposed to "save America"? The batteries will have to be dumped in landfills and they will contribute more pollution than what is supposedly saved.

What is true is that the low price is the big advantage. But such a small car should at least get better MPG than bigger compacts?

Sorry to say, but Buick will most likely never rake in the sales numbers as it had in the past. And GM simply cannot afford to have cars with same bodies with many different names, like the 60's. Marketing costs are way up, so no more Century/Regal, but one name to promote from now on. Buick is now paired with Pontiac, and better get used to it. GM planned to spend billions to bring Buick up as they did for Caddy, but many other problems occured since then. Caddy and Chevy need the cash most, and then if they are lucky, maybe the other divisions. FOr now, GM has to deal with legacy cost, Delphi, and gas prices. No extra cash for 1960's/70's line ups anymore.

Sorry to say, but GM is not ever going to make a BOF car ever again. Zeta is unibody.

Buick needs two more sedans, from where? A decontented LaCrosse and a rebadged Cobalt? Maybe a Zeta car, but how many can Australia ship? And won't it look like a GTO 4 door? Meanwhile Dephi is bankrupt, GM is "junk bond" status, and money is bleeding. Badge engineering is dead, and it's not the 60's anymore. Buick is pretty much Pontiac's roomate, and only if GM can make money like the "good old days", can more Buicks that are not rebadges be produced.

With gas at $3 a gallon, the big RWD cars of the 60's 70s ain't coming back. No BOF full sized car, that people think will "Save GM", can get high mileage sudenly in demand, unless it's a diesel or hybird. And no "red blooded muscle car fan" is going to settle for those type of powertrains. Remember Zeta is unibody, not BOF. And if they do come to market at all, they will be in limited numbers. Not over 50% of the market that the big cars had in the 'good old days'.

GM needs to be shaken up, and quit thinking the 70's are coming back. And, thinking that they NEED to have 4-5 versions of the same car to please the brand fanatics.

I did not say at all that the LeSabre was the "whole" full sized line up. I typed that the LeSabre was the only "B-Body" RWD Buick, from 1974-85. Electra and PA was the C body. The LeSabre name is 47 years old, but from 1959 to 1973, there were other names used on the Buick B Body. Invicta, Wildcat, and Centurion.

Maybe because it has more room inside? Maybe because soem people actaully like it? Maybe beacuse the real car market doesn't just like Camaros? PT sales are up 24%, de-bunking, yet again, the myth "PT's are dying". Car nuts who think every car should be a sporty coupe break out in hives when they see this, but it's reality. In the Golden Age of Muscle Cars, full-sized family cars and wagons sold in high volumes, not the muscle cars. And, no, a plain Chevelle or Nova does not count as a "Muscle Car". Point is that Family cars bring in the bacon, to subsidize "enthusiast cars".

The low sales numbers are due to the big slowdown in truck sales, not because of Olds being gone. Also, the Century was just a watered down Regal. Why do some think is was it's own car design? It won't be missed, even my 72 y/o dad likes the LaCrosse better.

At this point, most real world car buyers don't care about old dated car names. They want a good value, not just a name. Buick is teamed with Pontiac and GMC. While Olds was supposed to be "GM's Honda". Only if the Lucerne bombs, then maybe the Buick name will be dropped.

Include the Freestyle, since it is a "500 wagon", like the Magnum is a Charger wagon.

People were complaining about Buick dropping two cars, when in fact they were really the same vehicle. With the new car outselling "two cars", now what do they think? Also, the HHR naysayers better get ready for some fried crow. And no, don't say "It is a fad", since the PT Cruiser is not "dying", nor is it a poor seller. It is doing 100K a year, more than some "real cars". So, the market for smaller utility vehicles is stong.

One of the main "Houswives" drives a Rendevous. The one with all the kids. Car nuts may roll their eyes, but reality is women have a strong say in over half of car/truck purchases. But, the "cute chick car" ads of the past do not work either. Appealing to smart women with full lives is the key. And it can be done without turnign off husbands too. And yeah some want the Grand National to come back, but that will happen only if Buick makes their own engines again.

If they don't buy GM cars, then it's "American consumers are stupid." If GM has a sales increase it's "The people have spoken"

Just like the T1000, Ventura II, Astre, and the now the Torrent? Chevys with Pontiac badges? Who in their right mind would actaully think that a Pontiac badge is worth the extra dime? Modern car buyers couldn't care less about "GM divisional identity". If it is not different enough, why bother?

"then imagine what GM could do with a completely new architecture." Then the question is, why aren't they completely new? It's always "imagine" and "wait", why not "reality" and "now" ?

It has the sterring wheel from the Uplander now. The new front looks "cheaper" to me. All the complaints about the chrome were from people who would never buy one anyway, they still have 1990's leftovers.