Filed under: Concept Cars, Coupes, Buick, Misc. Auto Shows
Shanghai Auto Show: More pics of the Buick Riviera Concept
click above image to view more shots of the Buick Riviera Concept
Our colleagues over at Autoblog Chinese have just shown us a bevy of new pics revealing more angles of the Buick Riviera Concept set to debut soon at the Shanghai Auto Show. As we reported earlier, the Buick Riviera Concept was penned at GM's Pan Asia Technical Center, which makes the concept a coming out of sorts for that region's development team. The car is a proper coupe that reportedly shows off Buick's future design DNA, and while it's being referred to as a "global" concept, we can't say for sure whether or not the styling elements will make their way around the world to our own North American market. The prospects, however, seem good, as the Riviera Concept is set to go on an international tour of the auto show circuit after the Shanghai show comes to a close. So we leave the judgment up to you readers, is this the styling direction in which the Buick brand should head?
[Source: Autoblog Chinese]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
HC 3:26AM (4/18/2007)
Not being offensive, but the design seems more attuned to Asian markets than being a design for a world market. Hopefully, the Enclave is a better indicator of the future of Buick.
Just like Mercedes, Buick needs an Enclave K like the forthcoming GLK to help further fill out their product matrix.
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Generation Automobile 3:45AM (4/18/2007)
I dont Know why GM has put the Riviera name over this concept car. Is it because chinese are aware of the old names that mean something to us, north americans, or just to make us jealous that we cant have them anymore (great meaningful names on Buicks) while the booming asian market does? One way or the other, good looking concept car for that part of the world, bad name choice!
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theo 3:52AM (4/18/2007)
I'm a huge fan of the profile and overall design language, but that face is one that only a mother could love.
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Gary Lowe 4:04AM (4/18/2007)
One day the Chinese wake up and realize that Buick, TGIF and McDonalds are not premium brands. I live in China and when you see GM's rebadged 10 year old technology driving around with a Buick nameplates....well, I'm not sure if it's laughable or just a continuation of the longest running sob story in corporate history.
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Gary Lowe 4:05AM (4/18/2007)
One day the Chinese will wake up and realize that Buick, TGIF and McDonalds are not premium brands. I live in China and when you see GM's rebadged 10 year old technology driving around with a Buick nameplates....well, I'm not sure if it's laughable or just a continuation of the longest running sob story in corporate history.
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Mr. Red 6:05AM (4/18/2007)
I hate the new concept, i guess i'm partial to how ford is moving along and with classic style,
http://www.burnedbytheman.com/
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Jim Sanders 6:42AM (4/18/2007)
It's tall and narrow.
...
...
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Atomicbri 7:10AM (4/18/2007)
Doesn't look to bad to me, but never in a million years do I see anything "Riviera" About it.
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Gregg W. 7:25AM (4/18/2007)
I think you guys need to wake up and smell the coffee. China is getting the new Buick hybrid, the RWD V8 Buicks, plus they are designing, and building Buicks we will never even get a chance to buy. We (U.S.) are being cut out of the Buick cycle. When the U.S. is cut out of the Buick cycle, that's a sure sign we are toast.
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Justin 7:48AM (4/18/2007)
I love that the Chinese can re-do American classics (or new models for that matter) better than America can.
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geo.stewart 8:01AM (4/18/2007)
looks like it is a compact coupe rather than a large coupe (that the Riveria has been). This design carries over the wave of the wheel wells of the last Riviera but looks like a competitor of the IS350Coupe rather than an Audi A5. (though Buick has a ways to go to get to that execution level.)
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bmoredlj 9:05AM (4/18/2007)
Without making judgements about which is better, the U.S. and Chinese Buick brands are obviously very different animals, much like U.S. Ford (who continue to sell massive SUVs and ancient Focuses and Crown Vics) and Ford Europe. This is another example of a car division that seems to be moving faster somewhere other than the U.S., which is logical, considering the market is growing much faster in China than in the U.S. Buick has a chance to be the top automaker in China, while in the U.S. the division hangs on a string; being retained for sentimental reasons, and offering nothing different from what Chevy offers, other than different skins. Variety is good, but overall I feel like Buick would be better-served as a China-only brand at this point.
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Ralph 9:18AM (4/18/2007)
Not pretty. Bill Mitchell must be rolling in his grave.
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Rene Curry 10:11AM (4/18/2007)
Gary,
When I am in China I am proud of every Buick LaCrosse & Royuam I see.
The Chinese are getting a fresh view of Buick and will judge them for what they are, not what they were. If they can keep the high styling & quality standards while offering value, they will do well.
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Chris 10:12AM (4/18/2007)
It's vaguely like the lacrosse concept from a number of years ago (in profile). I like the rear, but that front end is way to agressive and yes, Asian. I think this is just a clay model anyway, judging by the flat wheels and lack of headlights. Who cares if this is Buick's future design direction? We won't get anything good out of it because we are all fixated on stupid SUVs here.
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Snark 10:21AM (4/18/2007)
Aside from the derivative G35 headlights, this is certainly a more interesting and aggressive Buick face than we're familiar with here. The front fascia is too tall; that leads to a somewhat bloated feel, rather than sleekness and litheness.
Overall, it's not bad but not great. They need to just build the Velite, and maybe evolve this face for a RWD sedan.
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mr.ed 10:31AM (4/18/2007)
Buick is revered because one of the emperors drove one about 80 years ago. So, why not capitalize on this?
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Chris 10:42AM (4/18/2007)
Yikes! The blocky, stubby awkwardness of this toad-like concept is only exceeded by its blandness. When I think of Rivieras, I always go back to the beginning - the iconic 63-65 era. Then there are the 66-67's, models of sleekeness and high style. From this perspective, it would be tragic to apply the Riviera nameplate to this ugly beast.
As a previous post mentioned: Bill Mitchell must be rolling in his grave.
This Riviera Concept hints at a New Buick Design language? You're kidding. I should hope not. Better they should pursue the lanquage shown here on these Roadmaster / Riviera concepts for the Zeta platform:
http://www.gminsidenews.com/naias/revitalization/Roadmaster.html
At least these hint at sleekness and Buick-style elegance. Pursue and refine that!
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Rick Lyon 10:51AM (4/18/2007)
Wow, a Buick that I don't think sucks, and yet we'll never see it here in the states. Go figure.
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mk 11:54AM (4/18/2007)
As mentioned... a bit too tall, and not quite wide enough. The front end looks like it has a lot of frontal area. The windows are high above the wheel wells.
Aspects of the design are nice though. The coke-bottle curves and the gracefull but not soft lines. The proportions are just off a bit. The rear glass doesn't come down to the horizontal trunk line, either, which is a bit odd.
I LOVE the gullwing wide door idea, though. With modern technology, it is a wonder why more niche cars don't come with things like that... it may not be for everybody or every car, but it would be cool in special applications.
Personally, I don't care if it is a Buick. Personally, I would have designed a similar gull wing car to this, as a better looking Subaru. Lower, with wider proportions, and styled differently in the details to be actually attractive, and have a Subaru chassis and boxer AWD drivetrain, and an appropriately low hoodline.
Stupid pedestrian crash standards (as if government mandates for making cars out of marshmallow will help if pedestrians walk out in front of traffic...) Seem to be making a lot of cars overly blocky on the front, to allow for open space under the crushable hood.
That seems at odds with aerodynamics, and drag, which effects fuel efficiency. This Riviera concept looks like it has one of those tall front ends, and then they just designed the car to be tall from the grille back. Seems like that is happening more and more.
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