boblutzfan

This is a great idea...

It does look similar to the ES except (thankfully) the Escalade doesn't have a tacky digital clock between the vents - it appears to have a classy watch faced clock in stead.

Didn't AH-HA confirm that the unveiling was to be tomorrow? Anyway, it is hurry up and wait... The small picture of the NAV looks like it is pulled out of the STS.

That shows November 11th!! Do we have to wait another week?

Is it confirmed that tomorrow is the day? What event is the Escalade being introduced at?

I think people are reacting a little too harshly to the name of the Buick crossover. Guys we haven't even seen a spy picture of the Enclave. There were lots of naysayers who criticized the Rendezvous for its styling, being related to the lame duck Aztek, the pathetic 3.4L V6 and the crappy interior - yet it was a huge sales success. Now Buick is talking about bringing out a crossover designed from the beginning on a dedicated chassis to be a crossover, offering premium engines, styling that is supposedly "jaw dropping" with the intent of competing against Lexus - and yet so many people complain about the name. Probably if you don't like the sound of "Enclave" then it isn't marketed to you. Go buy the Acadia or Outlook instead. Many upscale neighborhoods have the word enclave as part of their names. This new name rolls off the tongue easier than Rendezvous and like someone else said, doesn't have the association with the Aztek to over come from the marketing end. With GM aiming for Lexus we can expect good things in terms of fit & finish as well as sound dampening. The Lucern is a wonderful replacement for the aged LeSabre. I have high hopes for this new vehicle and think we should all just sit back and wait until Buick unveils it next spring.

On one hand I agree - the Rendezvous sold well - keep the name. On the other - anything to eliminate any association with Aztek is good. Enclave will work well and as far as I know doesn't have any canadian interpretations that will offend anyone. Have you had your Lacrosse today?

No maybe about it. Lutz has indicated in the past that Buick is to compete with Lexus. There is not doubt that Lexus is an uppity brand. There are a few high end gated neighborhoods here with Enclave in their name. I think this will work.

Personally I like the name. It sounds expensive. It will do well.

I am curious about this new engine. So the DOHC version will replace the northstar? AH-HA indicated that the Lambda's would have a SOHC version. Has anyone else heard this?

Very true. The recent Saturn interiors have been very tasteful and if the Lucerne is any indication of the direction that Buick is headed - then their crossover should have an excellent interior.

Maybe. I wouldn't be surprised if there was no Envoy XL for sure.

The current GM CSV's have 3 vents in the center stack and have rear vents as does the DCX minivans. Having 3 vents in the center stack has no bearing on the rear. It is safe to say that these will have a rear A/C system.

Chevy will be getting a Lambda minivan - but not a crossover. There is still a demand for a truck based SUV like the Explorer and Trailblazer for those folks who have a boat or that want 4WD. The Lambda crossovers will fill the void for those folks who want to have three rows of seats, not drive a minivan but not want the poor fuel economy of a body on frame SUV. With Chevy getting a Lambda minivan - the Trailblazer will be a great fit for the SUV demand and will probably sell at a lower price point than the Lambda trio. This will help to emphasize chevy's value promise. I like everything I am seeing about the Lamda trio - I just fear the price that these will command.

I emailed Edmunds this morning concerning their error and still haven't heard back. It will be interesting to see if/when they change the title of the spy pic to being the Acadia.

Thanks for the explanation. Makes sense now.

What? Spartans - what does this mean?

Why not make it standard? It would be beter to have a delete option and not give the competition and/or car mags an oportunity to criticize GM for not give their new crossovers standard third row seating. With the V8 option, this will give the likes of the Pacifica, Pilot, Freestyle and Hylander a run for their money. I predict huge success with these.

AH-HA - I think you are right - this isn't the Envoy - it is the Acadia. How could edmunds have gotten this so wrong? Is GM also redesigning their GMT 360s at the same time as the Lamdas?

I would imagine that the GMT 360's will be redesigned but not in the LWB models. The Lambda Acadia will replace the Envoy LWB. These new Lambda models look incredible. I can't wait to see these without the camo. This Acadia looks close to production ready. GM must be getting close to an announcement since this was left unattended out in the open. AH-HA - what else should we be looking for?

Great article. Yes Saturn's future is looking brighter by the month... Sky - it will draw people into the dealerships. It is great looking and will draw out the more sophisticated customer's that may be turned off by the Pontiac brand and wouldn't be seen in a Soltice. (for the record - I like both) Aura - if delivered at the right price and on time - this should sell well. Offering the 3.6L and six speed auto will set it as high tech and cutting edge. The car mags will like the technology and styling and GM may finally have a sedan that will favorable compare to the CamCord in comparison tests. For the GM loyalists - this is tons better than the L300 and should do much better. Outlook - All indications are that this will be a hit. The spy photographs show promise. If GM delivers on packaging and fuel economy then this will do well against the likes of the Pilot and Hylander. I for one have this on my short list as the next family car. ION - the redesign looks sharp - maybe GM can pull this ahead like they did with their full-size SUVs to get the old one out the door quicker. The current ION will be a dud on the show room floor next to the SKY and Aura. Vue - the recent update is ok. The interior is much better - the best of the Theta crossovers. I hope the replacement is class leading. All in all, I think Saturn is on track to be the next big thing from GM. Now how about some more info on the Aura and Outlook. These are more important to Saturn's future than the Sky. Pics anyone?

We need to prepare ourselves for the Escalade to just have a tricked out version of the same interior as seen in the Tahoe and Yukon. I seriously doubt that GM will dedicate a unique dash design as Lincoln has done with the Navigator. While I am preparing myself for the worse - I have high hopes that they might surprise us.

There were plenty of people who questioned Cadillac is selling a $70K+ XLR. That worked and I would expect the XLR - V to sell as well.

"Is there such thing as value pricing on any $75,000 car? Do people with that much money to spend really care about saving a few thousand? They are going to get the better car, no matter the cost. If they were looking to save money they wouldnt buy a luxury car." "Bingo. The people bitching the most about the price are the people who aren't in the target market due to a severe lack of discretionary income." I agree with both posts above. People - a purchase of a car above $50K is more emotional than rational. Is the person who buys an S-Class really going to be talked into a cheaper LS430 to save money? No. People buy expensive cars not after many days and nights researching and shopping for the best deal. People drop near six figures on a vehicle because they want THAT vehicle. Since when did a Hummer H1, 911, M5, SL55, XLR, ZO6 or any other high priced luxury car make sense. One of my uncles just bought a BMW 760iL. I asked him if he considered an Audi A8 (my preference for that price range) and you know what he said about his near $90K purchase? No - I wanted a 7 series - I didn't look at anything else. These purchases are purchases of emotion. Only in the car magazines do you see such detailed (albeit biased) comparisons of high end luxury cars. If someone buys a $100K XLR-V then they probably bought it because they wanted one - not because it was cheaper than a Mercedes SL. The people who can't comprehend these prices are obviously not the target market. If people bought "luxury cars" only after much research on value, reliability and practicality, then all luxury sedans would be LS 430s and Sports cars would be Corvettes. But that is not the case. Get past the prices people and be glad that the company you love is finally producing vehicles that could even be mentioned in the same sentence with these very high performance luxury sedans from Europe. Just ten years ago - people would have laughed at the idea of seriously being able to compete against the SL

Is GM killing their minivans? I thought that there would be a new minivan based on the Lambda platform. My understanding is that Buick, Saturn and GMC would get crossovers while Chevy would get a traditional minivan based off of the same Lambda architecture. Is this correct?