No US Regal for 2021

[retirednow]

I guess the giveaway was the recent Buick ads showing only SUVs. https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1126265_buick-regal-won-t-return-for-2021

[parkertom]

I guess it means that I will be shifting away from Buick in the not too distant future for my primary means of transportation for the first time since I began driving. Eventually good low mileage Buick cars will become harder to find used.

 

We moved from Buick for my wife when we decided to go the minivan route for the family vehicle many years ago.

[retirednow]

1 hour ago, parkertom said:

I hear ya. I guess my ‘16 Cascada will be my last new Buick as I have zero interest in SUVs.                                 I guess it means that I will be shifting away from Buick in the not too distant future for my primary means of transportation for the first time since I began driving. Eventually good low mileage Buick cars will become harder to find used.

 

We moved from Buick for my wife when we decided to go the minivan route for the family vehicle many years ago.

 

Edited December 4, 2019 by retirednow (see edit history)

[JohnD1956]

Sad news indeed!  Our last three "new" cars were Buick products.  2 Regals and one Lacrosse.  Now I don't know about the next one. 

[MRJBUICK]

Now Now lets not desert the camp until we have tried whats left.

i agree with all of the above about sedans i currently love my wife's 2014 Lacrosse but 

on the same note i enjoy my 2005 Rainier all the time, and that is a TRUCK.

i will miss the sedans, maybe they might smarten up down the road, unfortunately i don't think so.

But don't poo poo whats left my sister in law has an older Enclave and it is a nice comfortable vehicle to drive

one of our members has an Envision and loves it and when leasing a new car my daughter seriously considered an Encore ( lost out to a Subaru Crosstrek mainly on the payment)

but these are some nice vehicles. they are not sedans and never will be, but they are versatile (read alot of old car parts in the back) and well built,will i own one when the Rainier goes probably not because now i'm hooked on trucks, and that R☹️ed Regal GS in the used car lot is definitely tugging at my strings HMMM!! its just so tough☹️

[old-tank]

First it is no RWD sedans.

Now no sedans.

Just SUV's (stupid ugly vehicles) some of which will be 3-cylinder sh!t boxes!

[parkertom]

1 hour ago, MRJBUICK said:

Now Now lets not desert the camp until we have tried whats left.

i agree with all of the above about sedans i currently love my wife's 2014 Lacrosse but 

on the same note i enjoy my 2005 Rainier all the time, and that is a TRUCK.

i will miss the sedans, maybe they might smarten up down the road, unfortunately i don't think so.

But don't poo poo whats left my sister in law has an older Enclave and it is a nice comfortable vehicle to drive

one of our members has an Envision and loves it and when leasing a new car my daughter seriously considered an Encore ( lost out to a Subaru Crosstrek mainly on the payment)

but these are some nice vehicles. they are not sedans and never will be, but they are versatile (read alot of old car parts in the back) and well built,will i own one when the Rainier goes probably not because now i'm hooked on trucks, and that R☹️ed Regal GS in the used car lot is definitely tugging at my strings HMMM!! its just so tough☹️

I own an Enclave and have generally been happy with it. However, I plan to go back to sedans when I make my next purchase. Would have probably already bought a Regal or Tourx if they had a V6. And the MSRP on a new GS is $45K!

[MRJBUICK]

parkertom just so you know a local dealer Arnold Buick/Chevy here on Long Island has a couple of used GS models on their lot with very low miles for about 32k.

i know in the future we will probably be meeting at some point my son lives in Winchester and we go down there during the year for visits

Beautiful country where you live, we made it out to Paris a couple of years ago and my daughter in law does theater in Edinburg so we might meet at some point

 

[parkertom]

3 hours ago, MRJBUICK said:

parkertom just so you know a local dealer Arnold Buick/Chevy here on Long Island has a couple of used GS models on their lot with very low miles for about 32k.

i know in the future we will probably be meeting at some point my son lives in Winchester and we go down there during the year for visits

Beautiful country where you live, we made it out to Paris a couple of years ago and my daughter in law does theater in Edinburg so we might meet at some point

 

Thanks for the heads up. I am partial to the silver cars...they are few and far between. I found one at a dealer in PA marked down by about 20% putting it just a little bit above those used cars. It is certainly in the back of my mind...much to my wife’s chagrin.

 

I have been lucky enough to live most most of my life in the Shenandoah Valley. Would be interested in seeing photos of your 60 Electra some time.

[ted sweet]

not surprising since gm no longer is building sedans

[NTX5467]

This is "old news", but just recently publicly announced.  "Old News?"  Remember when GM sold its Euro operations, including Opel/Vauxhall?  That's where the Regals came from, NOT the USA.  It has been known for some time that when that production contract with the new owners ended, so would the cars.  Where could they move production to?  China or the USA?  Not Australia as GM's not building vehicles down there any more.  

 

Of course, the whole deal is made to sound like they are ending production due to "buyer preferences for SUVs" rather than telling the real story.  One financial email I get proclaimed "Buick to End Car Production".  How does that sound?  It drew several good responses form new owners of the Regal Tour X vehicles.

 

ONLY historic thing is that whenever GM (or Ford) has abandoned a market segment, the European or Asian brands have swooped right in with new products to fill that niche better than GM had been doing.  The "sleeper" in this respect is VOLVO!  Volvo is becoming what Buick could have been, IF GM management had wanted to do that.  Instead, sales of facilities is allegedly going into electric car research (remember GM's "car of the future" running on hydrogen a decade of so ago?).  Volvo's already stated that any new models will b either electric-only or hybrid in the future.  GM could have easily done the same, but chose not to.

 

Remember the Avenir vehicle and then the really sleek Coupe concepts?  GM quickly said they would not be in production, when WE know they would have been salesfloor hits, especially the coupe.  Volvo still has SEDANS and a limited-production coupe that fits those bills, right now.  PLUS the requisite different sized SUV products.

 

But also remember how the parade of managers through CAdillad really helped their "Art and SCience" orientation in the '90s?  Then that whiz-bang management team from Audi?  Cadillac had now current "products" to match sales with BMW, which has a full line of electric vehicles and the normal SEDANS and SUVs.  In mid-2000s, BMW outsold Cadillac by about 10K units.

 

GM is continuing to mis-manage their car brands, other than possibly Chevrolet, by observation.  Especially on the CAR side of things.  Just as with the Avenir car and The Coupe, the talent is apparently there, but seeking to be a "tech car company" is much more than having a vehicle that can support 12 WiFi connections at once.  Bland-looking intereiors (one of the first things a millennial tester said about the TourX) in textures of the same mono-tone color scheme is no good . . . compared to even the most lowest-priced '55 Buick Special.

 

Why can the import brands still successfully sell smaller sedans in volume?  Bui GM and Ford don't seem to be able to?

 

One thing to remember is that many fwd Cadillac platforms also spawn similar Buick models, or used to.  Perhaps the REgal should be put on the CTS-replacement platform?    But with powerful, high-tech/hybrid power plants that don't need turbos to make power.  With shocks that don't need electronics to ride well and go around corners too!

 

Perhaps a "Focus Group" on the Future of Buick needs to inundate Mary Barr/GM Product Management with letters of how they could save and RESTORE Buick to its prior prominence in the marketplace, while also keeping the younger buyers attracted to the SUVs they perceive they need.  A vehicle WIDE enough to seat 6 people without having to decrease luggage space (as on a three-row SUV of any size!).  What made Buick great in the middle 1950s can make it great again in the 21st century.  Don't send us to a Volvo Store!

 

Thoughts and observations,

NTX5467

[B Jake Moran]

And don't forget, Buick does not manufacture anything any more, especially cars.  My wife just bought a 2014 Encore to replace an older Nissan SUV.  She thought I would be glad.  I said "how do you like your Daewoo?"  "What".   Her and I take care of our own transportation purchases but she knows I will never buy a GM product.  Few companies I know of have seen such a slide in culture and leadership than GM.  Our hobby is about what the company used to be.  Occasionally there will be these new car discussions.  Buick Division may trot out a Riviera show car every few years.  It's nothing more than Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown at the last minute, over and over again....

 

 

Some of you guys think I'm a negative Nellie but I would buy a halo car if Buick offered one, even if it was a GM product that I know would have Gremlins.  Chevy gets the Camaro and Corvette, Cadillac had a halo V car, Dodge has all kinds of levels of Challengers.  Even Toyota came out with a new Supra.  Market is not dead.  Halo cars serve a purpose.  I was at the Toyota dealership getting the oil changed on my company Prius.

 

With some time I wandered into the showroom and went straight for the Supra.  But I'm in the showroom, so I wandered down to the gussied up Camry, which is supported with hot ads of a Dad racing to get a Volcano sample for this daughter for school. 

 

Buick has the duh-dunt-duh "that's not my Buick" ad showing millennials coming out of a restaurant.   I would buy a halo Buick for sure if they would build one.

 

Edited December 6, 2019 by B Jake Moran (see edit history)

[Terry Wiegand]

I guess we will all be driving Chevrolet Silverados or GMC Sierras.  The four door versions of these trucks are better than any late model sedan because they can tow a trailer and you have that box on the back for hauling things.  Just my 2 cents here.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

[NTX5467]

That particular V-6 is also available in the Camaro and fwd Impala.  Being more "tech" oriented, Cadillac uses a smaller version with at least one turbo attached, usually TWO.  YUK!

 

The Encore I drove last year, I was very impressed with the ride of it.  Shocked at how not-short-wheelbase it felt.  Somebody did well there!  But with no rear or rear-side visibility, the various proximity sensors and warnings are needed.   Even after you lay the back seats down (to get the headrests out of the sight lines!).  But most of the smaller SUVs are that way, too.

 

I was thinking the Encore was built in China.  One reason the China tariffs was a touchy point for GM.

 

Happy Holidays!

NTX5467

[Brad Conley]

Encore = North Korea, Envision is produced in China.  Neither of which will have the opportunity to grace my garage.

[Y-JobFan]

I am in the opposite camp, I would never own a sedan as my DD, I would have strongly considered a TourX though. I find vehicles like the Enclave do everything a sedan will,  then you add the items a sedan won’t 

[retirednow]

Encore is built in South Korea

[Brad Conley]

2 hours ago, retirednow said:

Encore is built in South Korea

I hate auto-correct....

 

That's what I meant.  Sorry for wrong direction.

 

[39BuickEight]

I prefer cars on roads trips where I am not constantly getting in or out of them, and not trying to see over or around other vehicles in parking lots.

 

My 2018 Traverse (same as Enclave) gets over 30 mpg with 5 people and luggage on mountain highways.  I drove from Richmond, KY to DC on one tank of gas.  Averages 24-25 overall.

[Larry Schramm]

I like my Silverado which is my every day driver.  Better utility for my lifestyle than any car.  I was hauling fire wood Monday, lumber yesterday, and who knows what today.

[psychostang]

I don't see what the big deal is, both the Regal and Cascada are buillt by Opel.  The former in Germany, the latter in Poland.  None were designed by GM nor built in the USA.

[Y-JobFan]

Really? did you forget who owned Opel until recently? 

[RivNut]

The Buicks that are from the Opel line are products of the French auto maker Group PSA, who purchase it from the Germans.

 

I have a 2017 Encore and would put it up against any other similar sized SUV.  This bias against "furrin" car makers is basically just an uneducated bias based on bigotry, not fact.

 

What kind of position would the U.S. be in if they took the same attitude about military armaments built by the Chinese and other Asian nations.  I'm betting that we do not consider war ships, fighter planes, and rocketry built by them "junk."  Are cars built in the U.S. period junk if those manufacturers junk if they employ Asians in the design studios, engineering departments, and assembly lines?  Why the effing bias? What did they ever do to you?  You go to O'Reilly's and buy the cheapest part you can, it's going to be junk no matter who built it or where it was built.  

 

JD Power rated the Encore 2nd to BMWs Mini Clubman.  Out of the top 5, none were made in the U.S.  

 

I took a tour of the GM Fairfax plant in Kansas City, Kansas last year.  Now I know why you're not allowed to take pictures while in the plant.  The last station in the plant employs the biggest guys working in the plant.  Their tools are big assed hammers, heavy duty pry bars, and muscles for tweaking hoods and trunks to the proper fit.  Convinced me on the spot never to buy a Chevy Impala or a Cadillac XT4.

Edited December 21, 2019 by RivNut (see edit history)

[Brad Conley]

Ed, I am NOT saying the models made in S Korea or China are junk, I'm sure they are not.  I will say they are not built by US workers and thus are jobs lost for the US economy.  

Edited December 23, 2019 by Brad Conley (see edit history)

[RivNut]

 

On 12/22/2019 at 7:42 AM, Brad Conley said:

Ed, I am saying the models made in S Korea or China are junk, I'm sure they are not.  I will say they are not built by US workers and thus are jobs lost for the US economy.  

In the first part of your opening sentence you say "models made in S Korea or China are junk" then after the comma you state "I'm sure they are not."  Which side of the fence are you on?  You contradict yourself in one sentence. 

 

If American workers would work for the same wages, jobs would not be lost.  

[Brad Conley]

That was a typo, Ed.  I will correct.

 

Thank you for bringing my mis-speak to my attention.

Edited December 23, 2019 by Brad Conley (see edit history)