Autoblog

Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2008 Buick Enclave.

In addition to getting the coolest Buicks which are not available in America, individuals in China are about to get the best vehicle that Buick has to offer in the States. In a deal which was initially inked ten months ago, the attractive Enclave CUV, built at GM's Lansing Delta Township assembly plant, is headed for China. The U.S. assembled 'utes will make their way by means of Shanghai GM. The exportation of the Enclave to China is only surprising in that it took so long for the General to get the model there in the first place. After all, Buick sells more vehicles in China than anywhere else in the world, with the nation consuming over half of all Buicks worldwide. We can only hope that Shanghai GM returns the favor and sends some of its best designs our way... and soon.


[Source: GM]

Click image to enlarge

Shanghai GM today introduced the first mainstream hybrid in China's upper-medium vehicle segment: the Buick LaCrosse Eco-Hybrid. The car is part of Shanghai GM's push to earn truly worthy green credentials -- the kind that surpass Chinese requirements and meet European standards.

The LaCrosse is the first car to get the two-mode hybrid system for the Chinese market. With it the, the new car gets 28 mpg as opposed to the non-hybrid's 24. From next year until 2012, GM will offer 11 more increasingly fuel-efficient engines, including the E-Flex drive and the Fuel Cell E-Flex. For this year, Chinese customers will get new powerplants in the form of the 1.2-liter S-TEC, an HFV6 3.6-liter dual mode DI V6, and a mystery two-mode hybrid that will better its gas-powered cousin by 50-percent in fuel economy with no drop in performance.

The LaCrosse Eco-Hybrid is the first hybrid in Buick's lineup, and will use a development of the Belt Alternator Starter hybrid system akin to the Malibu Hybrid. Unlike the Malibu Hybrid, though, we won't be seeing the LaCrosse Hybrid here in the States.

Follow the jump for the full press release.

[Source: GM]

Remember the Buick Skylark? While the car certainly had its day in the pre-Reagan era, the 1980s and 90s did a lot of damage to the nameplate with models that were uninspired in every way (see above). General Motors figures the name's still good in other markets where it never sold the car, and will reportedly be introducing a new Buick Skylark in China by 2009 as a 2010 model. The new Skylark will be based on GM's Delta II platform that will underpin such vehicles as the next-gen Chevy Cobalt, Saturn Astra and Pontiac G6. The baby Buick will replace the Excelle in China, which is a version of the Daewoo Lacetti, a.k.a. the Suzuki Forenza in the U.S.

The new Skylark will be built in China by Shanghai GM, which begs the question of whether or not it will be the first vehicle GM imports from China for sale in the U.S. Who knows how well a Chinese-built Buick would be received in the States? We think the real question is how many small cars does GM need to sell? With three models already planned to utilize the Delta II platform, will a fourth bring us back to those days of regrettable badge engineering? Hopefully not, but we'll have to wait until the Delta II cars begin to break cover before we can know for sure.

[Source: Inside Line]

Click image for high-res gallery

The new Buick Park Avenue was formally unveiled in Shanghai yesterday, and there's a lot of new media out in support of it. First off, clicking the image above will bring you to a high-res photo gallery of the Chinese-built Park Ave, which is based on Holden's long-wheelbase WM Stateman and Caprice. As the interior photos show, the cabin has been dressed up extensively, with tasteful use of wood on the wheel, dash and rear snack trays. As with the superb-looking Cadillac SLS, the Park Ave is geared toward the backseat passengers. The car's available engines are built at Holden's engine manufacturing facility in Victoria and shipped to China for installation. As you might have expected, Buick has called upon one Tiger Woods to star in the first television commercial for the new Park Ave. You can watch it after the jump, as well as read the latest press release.

[Source: GM]

Chery Automobile Corporation is upending the competition in its home market. The manufacturer leapfrogged a healthy three notches on China's sales ranking list in February, in the process marking the first time a domestic has pushed out a foreign joint-venture to take to the podium.

Cherry shifted 21,000 units last month (an impressive 130-percent increase year-over-year), largely on the strength of GM's their QQ subcompact. The latter, a bargain-priced entry isn't exactly a profit center. Xinhua reports that the automaker earns about 500 yuan profit-- about $62 USD. Still, turning a profit on small cars is a difficult business, be it in China or here in North America.

Regardless, Chery's efforts saw it take third place in overall sales during February behind Shanghai GM and Shanghai Volkswagen. It unseeded another Wolfsburg joint-venture, First Automobile Works/VW.

[Source: Xinhuanet.com]