Spy Shots: Buick "Astra" spotted running bra-less
by Sam Abuelsamid on Nov 7th 2009 at 3:58PM 
Now that General Motors has decreed that Buick will be one of its four core brands, its lineup will need to be fleshed out a bit. The Lucerne is going away momentarily and the mid-size Regal is on the way. However, that still leaves only three models, including the LaCrosse and Enclave. Earlier this year, GM took us on tour of the Buick design studio and showed off a six-vehicle lineup for Buick, with a new compact sedan as the entry point. That sedan is essentially just the Opel Astra with a Buick grille and a trunk and we've seen it running before with heavy camouflage. It appears that Buick has now decided to peel that back and leave just the vinyl triangles for the remaining testing. That probably means the new "Excelle" (as the previous model was known in China) will be hitting the streets sooner rather than later. Buick officials told us this car would be coming to North America. Since it rides on the same Delta II platform as the Cruze and Volt, it could be built in any number of plants, including Lordstown, Ohio and Detroit Hamtramck. Perhaps the most likely location would be the Orion, Michigan plant that is also building the new Aveo. At the time GM announced that the Aveo would be built in Orion, they said also said the plant would be able to build a C-Segment car. If that is the case, we'll probably see the Buick launch sometime in 2011 as a 2012 model.
[Source: WorldCarFans]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
rljones 8:20PM (11/07/2009)
I thought the Astra would have gone from being a Saturn to being a Chevy. Never thought of it as a Buick. Guess will have to wait and see what the Buick trimming will make it look like. But when it was a Saturn, to my eye, it was just a badge swap.
The Buick grill in the spy shot, looks a bit "heavy" to me. Like it doesn't really fit. But guess time will tell.
Personally I would have liked it to be the replacement for the Cobalt. Would have given them more volume on the sales and that would have been "just" a badge swap.
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lne937s 10:05AM (11/09/2009)
the new Astra and the Cruze are both based on the Daewoo developed Delta II platform, just like this new Buick. The Delta II platform has much more parts commonality than the previous Delta platform- basically you are getting the new Astra as a Cobalt replacement.
Rick 10:22AM (11/10/2009)
I was going to say it looks more like a Cruze than an Astra.
I hate the Buick grill and the way it bends and works it's way up the hood. Why do domestics need to make their grills insanely larger than necessary?
Ren Nagata 2:16AM (11/08/2009)
werent they gonna try to make buicks luxury cars again? this isnt helping.
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rljones 3:53PM (11/08/2009)
that's what they said. But then again, what is Cadillac? Isn't it a luxury brand? So that gives them 2 luxury brands and one every mans brand.
guess it goes with Pontiac was supposed to be the performance brand, yet Chevy has the Vett and it was getting the all new Camaro which gave it 2 performance cars to it's 1?? The G8. So this makes just as much sense.
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Bryan Carlson 6:04PM (11/08/2009)
So sad! Just more small, ugly, boring, overpriced junkers from GM! Then, to make matters worse they are doing business with Communist China!! How nice of GM to give aid and comfort to an enemy of the United States and the entire world!
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Chris 2:25AM (11/10/2009)
Why does a small car = junky? The bigotry directed at GM is really out of control on here. And please name a country in the world, or a major multinational that does not do business in China? Communist China! Communist in name only China.
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broonsby 6:34PM (11/10/2009)
I'm glad they're not using the same platform as the Opel/Saturn Astra. It had 3 major drawbacks and one niggle.
1. Rear view mirror useless due to too many lit buttons near it overpowering the view. On a dark night all you could see were the buttons. Major design flaw.
2. Driving lights were useless for seeing anything above knee height. There was such a sharp cut off that you needed to use the high beams going up a hill. WTH?
3. Cost. It was expensive. It was 3-4k more than comparable cars. Ouch.
4. (niggle) No cup holders. Not one. Seriously. Huh? My 85 Cavalier had one, and that was as stripped as it got, a clunky 4 speed manual and no AC.
My wife and I still much prefer the old Astra to the Civic or Carola. Both the Toyota and Honda were big disappointments. Especially the Civic since they once upon a time were fun to drive. Terrible now.
Come on GM. Step up to the plate for a change and make a car with good ergonomics and proper quality. If you can make a 300 HP direct injection V6, you can surely make a competitive 4 cylinder engined option. It's only half a V8, and I KNOW you guys can build those:)
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