Now this is a Buick Regal I could love (source: general motors)
Click here to read an update to this story that I think you will enjoy.
As previously discussed, the Chinese market Buick Regal, which is essentially an Opel Insignia, will be made available to American buyers in 2010 as a lower cost sister of the new Buick LaCrosse.
The Regal is 4 inches shorter than the LaCrosse but outside of that the Regal will offer fewer premium features such as no acoustic laminated glass, no premium absorption material under the car and no perimeter seal for the hood according to an Automotive News interview with Roger Knoebel, manager of vehicle performance integration.
I have several concerns with this plan. First, if General Motors does elect to reuse the Regal name, I think it would bring back a lot of beige-tinged memories. Yes, there was the Regal GNX, but there were also a lot of ho-hum models that you likely encountered at some point when renting a car or visiting your grandmother. Secondly, the 2010 Buick LaCrosse is so stylish, so well-conceived it seems a shame to offer a less attractive, cut-rate model that may muddy up Buick's waters.
However, there is one scenario that I am liking about the Regal: The 325HP, AWD Opel Insignia GTC (translated from Romanian). In a web chat today with GM CEO Fritz Henderson, someone asked about the chances of modern Buick Regal GNX. While Fritz did shoot down a GNX model per se, he did not completely squash the idea of Regal variants. To quote Henderson,
(I) think you will like what you see in future Regal alternatives (ala opc alternatives), but do not look for GNX.
To my eyes, it would appear that Fritz is dangling a higher performance Regal variant in front of the public.
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