Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, China, Buick
Pics Aplenty: Chinese-spec Buick Regal looks darn good
Click above for high-res image gallery of the Chinese-spec Buick Regal
General Motors has just released a huge gallery of photos of its new Chinese-only Regal sedan. Anyone who has seen the Opel Insignia will immediately recognize the Regal as a badge engineered version of Opel's mid-size model. Aside from the standard Buick waterfall grille and the badges, the new Regal is essentially the Insignia. Prior to the launch of that car last summer, we had been expecting that car to arrive stateside in the next year or two as the next-generation Saturn Aura. However, GM delayed that program earlier this year and it may in fact be dead.
When GM revealed its viability plan to congress earlier this month, Buick, along with Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac were announced as the core U.S. brands, with Saturn on the backburner. GM has not provided any indication of whether it will offer the Regal in the US market as a Buick, but the Epsilon II platform it uses will also sit under the new LaCrosse and the next-generation Chevrolet Malibu so it should have no trouble passing US safety regs. With Buick being a core brand and only having the LaCrosse, Lucerne and Enclave right now a fourth model might be helpful. Some suggest that it could be offered as a lower cost four-cylinder alternative to the LaCrosse, but there's no word yet on how much the Regal will cost to manufacture. We hope to learn more about Buick's plans at the Detroit show in a couple of weeks when the LaCrosse is finally unveiled.
Gallery: 2009 Chinese-spec Buick Regal
[Source: General Motors]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Pokey 12:45PM (12/29/2008)
GM, PLEASE send this car to the States, NOW!
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carlbolt 1:22PM (12/29/2008)
Buy next gen Aura. same thing.
Jimbo 1:45PM (12/29/2008)
carlbolt: did you even read the article or follow the news in the last month? Saturn is likely to be killed off. There probably won't be an "next Aura".
C.W. 5:00PM (12/29/2008)
what a nice Mercury Milan!!! ...oh... wait... nvm....
Luke 1:53PM (12/30/2008)
I thought it was a Mercury as well.... Good job Genny. One thing you do well is imitate.
Pokey 2:47PM (12/30/2008)
Um, so, since it has vertical bars in the grill, it looks like a Milan? This looks nothing like a Milan, the Milan is a boring, slab-sided mess. This Buick/Opel has some curves and character.
Sure, if you squint REAL hard, it looks like a Milan. If you squint a little harder, it also looks like Jessica Alba. Open your eyes people!
Tony 12:46PM (12/29/2008)
I think GM should bring this over as the new Buick Regal so that they don't have to cut as many cost regarding material quality to fall into the expected Saturn brand/price category.
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DJ 12:53PM (12/29/2008)
Put the DI 3.6 V6 in this and you'd have one hell of a competitor for the G35, ES350, A4, etc.
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nagmashot 3:39PM (12/29/2008)
the Opel Insignia is avaible with 2.8l V6 twinturbo and AWD... there is no need for a heavy 3.6l V6
Sam Abuelsamid 6:34PM (12/29/2008)
Actually the 2.8 is de-bored, de-stroked version of the 3.6. They are both members of the high feature V6 engine family so the smaller displacement engine is not any lighter and in fact with turbo would be heavier.
PaulPaul 12:56PM (12/29/2008)
pretty snazzy interior
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Tsunami Racer 1:08PM (12/29/2008)
i saw this car in person on the streets of china and it's pretty slick. i hope they don't muck it up and water it down too much when it comes here with the saturn badge.
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Judy Zik 1:17PM (12/29/2008)
I knew even before I hit the comments section that there was going to be a bunch of people saying bring this over. I seriously think that Autoblog could post pictures of an old Lada or Yugo with a photoshopped nose and say GM or Ford was selling it overseas and someone would come on here and comment that they need to bring it over now. Maybe an idea for April fools.
Personally I think this car looks rather bland and boring. Not a horrible design just nothing to get excited over. The rear end/trunk lid just looks bad. I don't see this as any great step up over what Buick has now. It would be great to see Buick bring back the Regal name (they can't even use the LaCrosse name in Canada because it is slang for an act of self-love). But new vehicles should be exciting and different. Don't see this one standing out from the crowd.
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Fernando 1:34PM (12/29/2008)
The car looks much better than the Malibu or Aura that is currently sold in the US, AFAIC. Buick is a dying brand here in the US and should be cut, but there are plenty of cost savings in using this platform/design for the USDM. I think it's a nice looking vehicle, but not stunning (then again, the new TL is described as stunning by some and hideous by me).
styleguy 10:19AM (12/30/2008)
I have to fully agree with you. I compared this to the next-gen LaCrosse, and this looks downright dowdy in comparison. The laCrosse looks mean and ready to kick the A4's and ES350's a**.
But if GM wanted to make some real money, they should cut Saturn and bring Euro models here with a Pontiac nose, and albeit with American performance.
Jruhi4 1:18PM (12/29/2008)
The ¾-rear view bears more than a passing resemblance to the latest ('09) Acura TL.
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Serge 1:30PM (12/29/2008)
The Opel Insignia came out before the TL...
Nixapatfan 1:35PM (12/29/2008)
Don't you mean the rear 3/4 of the TL has more than a passing resemblence to the Insignia? You know since it came first. :)
Anyways they don't really look all that similar the TL is trying to be all CTS like with all the agnular creases and the Insignia is more rounded, just hard to see in pics.
inteller 1:19PM (12/29/2008)
Hmm...a B(uick)MW from GM. Too bad people here in the US don't buy up buicks like they do in China. Isn't that the best selling brand over there?
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Aki 1:22PM (12/29/2008)
Rear does look very Japanese. I see the TL resemblance, but for some reason think it looks more like a Toyota (think it's the tailight).
It's clean, but bland. Looks better than a lot of Buick has now here, but I don't think it's a runaway hit. Doesn't need to be brought over here.
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