2008 Buick GNX?

[Ultra]

Despite GM's best effort at putting on a straight face and telling the financial world everything's fine, the reality is that the collective brass at GM drank the grape Kool-Aid. While some parts of the company are in acceptable shape, other parts are literally on a financial respirator, and none are in such bad shape as Buick. If Buick is to avoid the same fate as Oldsmobile, it will have to design and build cars that ignite a passion for driving while reinforcing Buick's long-standing tradition of affordable luxury.

It's clear from Buick's current offerings that somewhere between the impassioned plea for strong product and the actual end product, Bob Lutz's dream of exciting Buicks has evaporated. The new LaCross looks utterly forgettable, and has the performance to match. There's nothing in the Buick stable that remotely serves as a halo car and you can forget about performance, too. Incentives are high, inventory is stagnant compared to industry standards, and the import brands are circling like sharks in the water. What Buick needs is a GNX.

Our '08 Buick GNX can be the first step toward bringing Buick back to its former glory, or at least make Buick a sustainable part of a combined Buick-Pontiac-GMC product channel. We've based it on the new Zeta platform, giving it a fully independent four-wheel suspension, rear-wheel drive, a six-speed automatic transmission, and a 400hp LS2. It could be built on the same Holden assembly line that currently builds the GTO; with a slightly more upscale trim than the GTO it would cost about $1,500 more.

That's a worst-case scenario, but if GM decides to build the Zeta platform in the U.S. (as it had planned until late-March 2005), Zeta-based Buicks could be more than just a limited-edition halo model. If the U.S.-built Zetas were a reality, Buick could offer a base-model LS with a 3.5L 250hp V-6 for around $22,000, a 5.3L 300hp V-8 in GS trim for $27,000, and the granddaddy of them all--the 6.0L 400hp GNX for a transaction price of around $33,000. If you want to spank Chrysler, that's what it's going to take price-wise and performance-wise.

And the turbo? Forget about it. A major redesign of an available V-6 or V-8 engine (needed for a turbo) would cost too much and drive the price right into the stratosphere.

Buick used to stand for affordable luxury. Today, entry-level luxury buyers seek out Chrysler, BMW, Lexus, and Infinity while Buick is relegated to rental fleets and retirees. GM can change that: take the rebates off the table, use the money to build the U.S. Zeta plant, and then price the cars right up front!

[Stephen M]

The styling exercise looks nice.

My issue is that when a manufacturer hits hard times, the enthusiasts' suggestion is always to "build more performance cars!"

A suggestion taken to heart maybe half the time. The new sports model lands some front page coverage, sells well for a year or two, languishes on dealer lots for another 2-3 years, then gets canned. Of the serious auto manufacturers in business today, those with annual output in the thousands, not dozens, I can think of 3 who pay the bills with sports cars. And one of those has added an SUV to the lineup, and is currently developing a sedan. The other two are makers of high-dollar exotics.

Among the major manufacturers, ones with output in the millions, I can think of only a handful of sports cars that have been in continuous production for decades. And Toyota, poised to take over the #1 spot, lacks a sporty option entirely. We cheer for passion and purchase appliances.

As I said, I do rather like the looks of the GNX concept. But we're delusional if we think a sporty coupe with a 20-year old name is going to fix Buick. 

[Jagman]

Yes, but what about the "halo" effect?

If it gets people into the showrooms, then it's done it's job, even if it only sells in the 10 - 20,000 / year range........

I actually like this, hope something happens with it. The first time Buick went into the performance idea it really made a difference in their more mundane offerings as well............

[GRAYWOLF]

It would be nice to see this in the showrooms, but only if they put the goods under the hood like they did 20 years ago!

[MG]

We cheer for passion and purchase appliances.

That is so. Halo effect, schmalo effect. They can't sell the GTO's they have now, never mind a tarted up model with tushie toasters and standard OnStar for $1500 more. Not to mention the optional defibrillator in the trunk for when the geezer driving it runs our of pop in his pacemaker.

GM could do quite nicely with Chevy, Pontiac and Cadillac. Hell, even Saturn is an interloper, albeit with nice new products, any one of which could be in a Chevy showroom.

I say let Buick sink. The market place is always lauded for it "efficiency" and then when it dictates something or other should perish from the market, there is a big hue and cry to save it. Why? If its not selling and making a profit, get rid of it. That's what the "silent hand" of capitalism and the market is all about.

Oh, yeah. And a separate division for GMC in anything other than large commercial trucks is a load of crap also. Dump it!   

I have never owned a Buick and cannot imagine myself ever owning one. Hey, Buick.  Its over, baby. See ya!   

[MG]

Are you gonna let me get away with that rant?   

[MG]

 

[vwlarry]

So then is GeeEmm headed into a future of being the Chevrolet/Cadillac company, with Saturn perhaps remaining also, as the division that serves as the "echo" of the long-gone Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick divisions all rolled into one fairly nondescript marque?

With Ford and Chrysler also circling the drain, at least long-term, who could have guessed 50 years ago that Studebaker's fate was not the aberration it seemed to be, but merely a very advanced sneak-preview of what was to become of the rest of America's carmakers?  Will the biggest antique autoshows of the future be the "orphan makes" shows?  Will they ALL be orphans?  I really wonder lately.  They're all going to go out with a whimper instead of a bang. 

[Ultra]

They're all going to go out with a whimper instead of a bang. 

Your optimism is noted.