General Motors has revealed the 2011 Vauxhall Insignia based Buick Regal
General Motors has revealed the 2011 Buick Regal, a mid-sized saloon based on the Vauxhall Insignia and built in Germany. It goes on sale in the US in Spring 2010.
Now that the American car industry is starting to release mainstream cars that make sense, it does make sense for us to report on them. And in the case of the 2011 Buick Regal there is another very good reason. This is a Vauxhall Insignia with a bit of Yankee glitz.
Not only is the Buick Regal based on the Insignia, it’s also being built alongside it in Germany. How that’s going to help GM’s bottom line with the value of the Dollar at the moment we wouldn’t like to say, but that’s how it’s being done.
Power comes from a pair of 4-pot petrols (no thirsty V8s here) – a 2.4 litre Ecotec with 182bhp and a 2.0 litre turbo delivering 220bhp. You won’t be terribly shocked that these come with a six-speed auto ‘box as standard.
Based as it is on the Insignia, the Regal benefits from MacPherson Strut front suspension and independent rear suspension. It also comes equipped with IDSC which offers three suspension settings. The spec level is pretty comprehensive and includes power seats, Bluetooth, Leather, Satellite Radio and 18″ alloys. Options include SatNav and Harmon Kardon.
The Buick Regal is a big deal for GM. Will American buyers buy in to a re-badged Euro saloon? It does seem likely, and they couldn’t get a much better starting point than the Insignia. The Regal is aiming itself at the ‘Almost Luxury’ market which includes offerings from the likes of Volvo and Saab and American models like the Acura.
The Buick Regal is due to go on sale in the Spring of 2010, although the turbo version won’t arrive until the Autumn. You can find all the gen in the 2011 Buick Regal Press Release.
Chuck kushinsky says
Interested until I found out its made in Europe. Is Toyota the only car company still interested in producing cars in the U.S? American tax payers bail the car companies out so they can build cars in other countries.
Thanks
Maybe this way the CEO can add a few more million to their pay check.
CarsUK says
Understand your point of view, Chuck. But they don’t have a lot of choice. Biggest problem for the Big 3 was the crappy cars they produced and the crappy management. So they are now working to build cars that fit in today’s world, but in a lot of cases the only way to do that – in the short term – is to build them where they’re already being built. Which is exactly what GM are doing with the Regal. They have a great car they’re building in Europe – the Insignia – which is suddenly exactly right for the US market. But until they can set up production in N. America they have to ship them in.
But by next year the Regal will be built in N.America – Canada, actually.