I’ve always said, what Buick needs is a rear wheel drive Corolla competitor.

they should make it a mini-grandnational

Well, it’s an issue of platform sharing… Buick is GM’s significant brand in China and maybe that is what is needed there. Also, in 2010 or 2011 when the Cadillac CTS is freshened, it is supposed to get a little larger to compete size wise directly with BMW 5 Series / Audi A6, etc. and Cadillac will then introduce a smaller, rear wheel drive unit to fit underneath the CTS…perhaps this platform will underpin that as well.

Drop in the 4.9L SIDI Small block V8!

I think the last line in the article pretty much sums up what’s wrong with GM. Too often it seems they’re more concerned with how vehicles fit into their own lineup rather than how good they are.

Why would they build a compact, efficient, RWD Buick if it’s only going to “steal sales” from the Pontiac G5 in the showroom? It’s not unlike the performance rules GM had in the 60s that were effectively designed to give the Corvette an artificial edge by strangling other GM cars.

It just seems as though GM has too be so ****sure of their own ideas that it’s absolutely inconceivable to them that anybody, themselves included, could possibly have any better ideas than the one they’ve got in their head at the moment.

Who the hell wants an under powered, boring looking Buick made in China? Have they lost their minds?

This is a great idea so GM will probably chicken out. That said, however, how many of us on this site have lamented the lack of small to mid size rear drive platforms citing our lack of understanding as to why two otherwise identical cars differentiated only by which set of wheels put the power to the ground could possibly produce mileage numbers so different as to make the rwd vehicle unfeasable?

Don’t chicken out GM. There’s real opportunity here.

I have no confidence that GM will green light this.

GRANDNATIONAL

If GM sells this in the U.S, they’ll source the High Feature turbo V6 (currently found in Saabs), tuned for low-end torque.
For overseas markets, the 1.4T is an option but in the U.S. it won’t move (in more ways than one…)

Hmm well If they have a RWD Corolla size Buick and the FWD LaCrosse and FWD Lucerne, I think that’s not going to go well. I know GM is concerned with the CAFE standards so they may only be able to put RWD in a smaller and lighter vehicle, but yeah jumpoffit and 400horseSS I too am thinking the same bring back the GNX! Seriously I’d probably buy one if they did.

There was also a report they were considering marketing to people who will still be alive next year.
This car better have atleast 12 holes on the side of it.

I’d be really disappointed if GM made a Grand National on Alpha with modern aerodynamic wedge styling. It’d be a disgrace. The platform is all wrong for it too. A reborn Grand National should live on Zeta which is more size appropriate. A tiny little RWD car isn’t a muscle car. I miss the old G-body RWD Buicks and Oldsmobiles. If only GM had kept that or b-body around I’d be driving a car today instead of a truck.

this is simply waggoner and lutzs answer to the cafe standards that will be in place so many years down the road. ive been a gm guy for over 30 years, but im simply sick of this company(run by chevy) and their “cant do” attitude. toyota has stated they will comply ahead of schedule with the higher mileage standards. why? because they have a good grip on the hybrid idea and know that for now, it is an excellent way to greatly increase fuel mileage. i swallowed my gm pride last year and bought a prius since i travel alot. i have put over 47,000 miles on it in one year and have AVERAGED 48 mpg, with 22 tanks over 50mpg. and i DONT drive like a little old lady!! i live in fla and have traveled to the nc mountains 6 times, so the car is on all kinds of terrain. for the here and now, until fuel cells finally take over, hybrids should be in ALL cars. the higher performance cars would benefit greatly with higher mileage and performance. limit the v8s in production and switch to 6s for the majority. gm takes 1 step forward, then 2 back, and its getting old. cmon gm, attack these problems instead of crying about them….

Hopefully the samller Buick model would not be a badge-engineered Daewoo.

Eh… GM is too stuck in FWD mode for their “every day” cars. I don’t see this ever being made.

Wouldn’t this make more sense as a Pontiac G5 replacement? There is no need for a Corolla-sized sedan at Buick, RWD or not!

This article has gotta be wrong. Pontiac and Cadillac get alpha rwd cars. The China buick is on the new FWD delta and is called the excelle. The next Cobalt will also most likely not be built on this platform. The Saab 9-1 will be on the new Delta also.

Why Buick need rwd small car?

Riviera!