Autoblog

On the eve of the Beijing Motor Show ,General Motors Chairman Rick Wagoner and Design VP Ed Welburn along with their Chinese colleagues unveiled the Buick Invicta concept. Your regular Autoblog team didn't make the trek to China for this show, but our cohorts at Autoblog Chinese showed up for GM's Premier Night party to check out what will be the replacement for the current LaCrosse. The car was revealed sitting on a pool of water, perhaps implying that it is Buick's messiah, standing by to breathe new life into the brand Stateside. Buick is of course thriving in China, and some of the same team that created last year's Riviera concept participated in the styling of this new model. This design riding on the Epsilon II platform is expected to make the transition to production pretty much unscathed although the roofline might be slightly higher.


[Source: Autoblog Chinese]

All Photos Copyright © 2008 Bin Chen / Weblogs, Inc.

General Motors has just put a video featuring the designers of the new Buick Invicta concept discussing their new creation. The video is part of a series of "Studio Stories" episodes that GM has been producing over the past year. Exterior design lead Justin Thompson and other members of the team talk about the approach they took to create the concept that debuted at the Beijing Motor Show today. Although the Invicta is labeled as a concept this sleek four door is thought to be very close to the LaCrosse replacement that will probably debut sometime next year. The Invicta carries over a lot design elements from last years Riviera concept that also debuted in China and was a joint effort between members of GM's North American and Chinese design teams. If the next new Buick actually stays true to this concept, there may be hope for the brand yet. Check out the video after the jump.


[Source: GMnext]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Buick Invicta Concept

Buick has dusted off the Invicta name, which hasn't been used by the brand since 1959, for its newest concept that debuted today at the Beijing Motor Show. The mid-size sedan previews the look of what U.S. customers will get with the next redesign of the LaCrosse sedan, and draws much of its design inspiration from Buick's most recent concepts like the Riviera and Velite. The Invicta features traditional Buick design cues like its waterfall grille and portholes, relocated on this car to the hood rather than the front fenders, but the rest of its styling is modern and fresh in a decidedly un-Buick way. The high beltline is a common element in many auto designs today, and is used well on the Invicta to give the concept a big presence for a mid-size car. We particular the shape of the lower air intake up front and the "sweepspear" character line along the side of the car. The sweepspear looks a bit like the sheetmetal kink on the Dodge Avenger, but so much better. The interior, meanwhile, appears surprisingly production ready with a wraparound dash and self-contained location for all controls above the sweeping center console.

Power for the concept comes from a turbocharged, direct-inject four-cylinder engine producing 250 horsepower and 220 pound-feet of torque, which is hooked up to a six-speed automatic transmission. Since it's a concept, however, the Invicta's powertrain is pretty immaterial. We're interested in its styling since it's likely what we'll see on the next-gen LaCrosse, which is scheduled to switch over to the Epsilon II platform that's shared with the Chevy Malibu when it debuts as a 2010 model. According to spy shots, things are coming along quite nicely.


[Source: Buick]

While GM throws heritage names in the dustbin of history here in the U.S., some of the old names are alive and well in China. The Park Avenue soldiers on as a completely desirable Zeta-platform Holden import, and the still-available Regal looks like it may be primed to get a long-overdue refresh. China Car Times has posted a photo what appears to be a new Buick -- possibly the next Regal -- with its nose camo removed. Note the waterfall grille with the empty spot where the tri-shield would go. According to CCT, the Chinese motoring press says that the mule's basic shape is in keeping with that of the newly-unveiled Opel Insignia. This car would appear to have unique sheetmetal, however, as its front end is similar but not exactly the same -- it's more than just a grille swap a la the Park Avenue. Note also the absence of the Opel's hockey-stick body line on the mule. If it is the Regal, and if it is Insignia-derived, it looks like it's going to get a good amount of differentiation. In any case, signs point to another good-looking Chinese Buick in the works, and we're curious.

[Source: China Car Times]

During a pre-Beijing Motor Show conference call today, Buick provided some more hints about the new Invicta concept that it will reveal this weekend in China. We've had a couple of teases about what to expect and won't actually be seeing any detailed images until Saturday, but what we do know now is that the Invicta (from the Latin for 'Invincible') is a four-door coupe following the current trend started by Mercedes with the sleek and sexy CLS. According to Buick designer Dave Lyons, getting a coupe to look great is easy, but the four-door layout is something that holds more market appeal. The Invicta picks up where last year's Riviera concept left off and extends that design language. It continues with what he called the "Sweep Spear" curve over the rear fender. On the inside, the cooperating design teams in Michigan and Shanghai worked to create an environment that is both functional and a reported work of art, and the driving environment is meant to impart a feeling of calm and quietness to help reduce blood pressure. Also, in spite of the low roof-line, the designers tried not to compromise rear room like in other four-door coupes. Unfortunately, at this point all we can say is, "We'll be the judge of that!" Based on the description given by GM today, the Invicta looks very promising and we will likely see hints of the next generation Lucerne in this car. But until we actually see it, it's all just hyperbole.

[Source: Buick]

Golf can be a very expensive and exhaustingly difficult sport to play, but watching the pros makes hitting the dimpled little ball seem like child's play. Pro golfers can have the same effect on the car buying process, as a recent study by Compete.com shows that web traffic for three sponsors of The Masters are getting a huge spike in site traffic in advance of the event. Mercedes, Cadillac, and Buick are pouring money into golf, and at least online the strategy is paying off. This is especially true for Buick, which has the one and only Tiger Woods as its pitchman.

Golf lovers are five times more likely to visit a Buick website than the average consumer and two to three times more likely to visit a Mercedes or Cadillac site. We're no marketing experts, but if those numbers hold up, that's an impressive return for the automakers marketing dollar. It'll be interesting to see if the up-tick in online interest will spur sales for Buick, Mercedes, and Cadillac in the month of April. The chart above shows web traffic in the months before The Masters, which begins April 10. Thanks for the tip, Eric!

[Source: Compete]

General Motors has been enjoying some serious success in China with its range of Buick models, and it hopes to continue that trend with the unveiling of the Invicta concept at the Auto China show in Beijing. We've already seen one teaser shot of the Invicta in profile and this newest image (on the right) gives a faint hint of the front end. We messed with the image in Photoshop to draw out some of the fascia's details, but the only thing that's really obvious is the swooping, Saab-esque headlamps and the kinked beltline originally seen in the profile shot above.

The Auto China show is right around the corner, so look for a full report in just over a week's time. Hit the jump to view the unmolested teaser.

[Source: GM via Carscoop]

Click above to enlarge

Buick gave a sneak peak today of its Invicta concept car that will be revealed next month in China at the Beijing Motor Show. The design will be an evolution of the sleek Riviera Concept, and was a collaboration of efforts between various GM Design Studios around the world to create what Buick hopes will be a vehicle with international appeal in its two largest markets - the United States and China. The Invicta, a name which hasn't been used by the Buick brand since 1963, will also feature retro design cues from Buicks of the past. A short press release can be found after the jump, and look for the full details on the Invicta in just over a month when it makes its official debut in Beijing. We'll, of course, have someone there to relay back all the info on this Sino-American hybrid.

[Source: GM]

Our favorite 32-year-old Buick ambassador, Tiger Woods, wants to carry your clubs. That's right, the world's greatest golfer wants to be your caddy. The humbling act is all part of Buick's new "Tee-Off with Tiger" online contest kicking off today.

Each time Woods plays a PGA tournament, entrants will attempt to guess his score for each of four 18-hole rounds. The person who guesses closest will win his actual tournament Buick (it will be slightly used, as Tiger will have put a few miles on it between the hotel and the greens - let's just hope his cleats were clean) for that event. At the end of the season, the top 10 closest entrants from each tournament will be placed in a pool, and a single winner will be chosen for the Grand Prize. The lucky individual, and a companion, will enjoy coach class airfare to La Jolla, California to play at Torrey Pines where Woods will serve as a personal caddy for nine holes.

You have to be 18 years of age and hold a valid driver's license to enter, though you need not possess any golf skills. Says Tiger, "I'm looking forward to sharing some golf tips, maybe a few jokes and certainly a lot of laughs." Nevertheless, we're sure by day's end the greatest golfer of all time (yeah, we said it) will tire of hearing the word "mulligan" and watching plumes of sand erupt from the traps.

[Source: General Motors]

A new, small sub-Lacrosse Buick luxury sedan could fit the bill to meet future federal regulations requiring an average fuel economy of 35 mpg by 2020. If given the go-ahead, General Motors would build the new car based on the upcoming Buick Excelle, itself set to debut in China by early 2009 and thought to look like the car you see above. The Excelle is a small, Toyota Corolla-sized sedan that will be manufactured on GM's new global rear-wheel drive Alpha architecture developed out of Germany. If General Motors decides to proceed with the plan, executives will have to determine what North American plant gets to build it, but its proclivity to be driven by its rear wheels should set the small car apart in a sea of FWD compact sedans.

[Source: AutoWeek, Photo courtesy of Sina.autonet.com]