LaCrosse: The Buick

A big comfortable sedan with ample power and nimble handling, a blow-away great interior and a price tag that seems about $8,000 less than you'd expect to pay.

That's the Buick LaCrosse, which Drive On finally took for a spin even though it's been out for months. Why haven't we paid much attention before? Because it's a Buick.

LaCrosse seems impressive because it comes from a brand that makes you think of your father, or your father's father. But it is getting discovered. LaCrosse sales were up 212% last month from a year ago on the strength of the new model. For Buick executives, the challenge is just to get potential customers in the car.

"The product is the great proof point," says Roger McCormick, Buick's chief marketing guy, adding, "once people spend time in the car."

Buick Riviera concept features hybrid powerplant

Buick announced more than the LaCrosse over in China. Autoblog Chinese brought us pictures of the Buick Riviera Concept when the car was revealed at the end of April, but I think readers will still be interested in this vague-sounding "fuel-efficient" possible hybrid. GM says the "Riviera has been engineered to accommodate a new hybrid system that will go into production at Shanghai GM.

LaCrosse bring sexy back to Buick

Design thinking helped to shape Buick’s 2010 LaCrosse, it seems.

Seung-il (Sean) Lo, lead designer at GM’s Global Brand Strategy Studio in Warren, Mich. says the idea was to make the brand relevant to American consumers again-especially to young drivers. Buick’s prestige has gradually faded as other autos claimed greater market share. (In the first half of 2009, the top five best selling cars were: the Ford F-series, Toyota Camry, Chevrolet Silverado, Honda Accord, and Toyota Corolla.)

Lo, who has worked at GM for nine years, graduated from Korea’s Hongik University in 1995 and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif. in 1999, both highly regarded design schools. He fell in love with sketching cars as a kid, but says (in the tone of a design thinker) that his role at GM now has more to do with strategy than aesthetics.

Today, most of Buick’s consumers are over 40 years old, but Lo, 39, wants to attract young professionals. The new LaCrosse was designed by teams not only in the U.S. but also China, now Buick’s biggest market, by far. In the first ten months of 2009, Buick sales in China jumped by 52% to 352,950 units. Sales in North America are only one-third this volume.

2010 Buick LaCrosse adds new Ecotec 2.4L direct-injection four-cylinder engine

The powertrain lineup of the 2010 Buick LaCrosse already includes the 3.0L and 3.6L V6s as previously revealed, now Buick has announced they will be adding the fuel efficient 2.4-liter four-cylinder Ecotec engine to the upcoming 2010 LaCrosse.

To get a balanced mix of fuel efficiency and performance, the direct-injected 2.4-liter Ecotec boasts 182 horsepower (136 kW) and 172 lb-ft (233 Nm) of torque. More importantly, the engine is expected to return 20 mpg city and 30 mpg highway. For comparison, the LaCrosse's 255 hp 3.0-liter V6 and 280 hp 3.6-liter V6 average an estimated 17 mpg city and 27 mpg highway.

All the three engines available in the LaCrosse lineup will feature direct injection technology. “Direct injection is a key component of GM’s ongoing strategy to use advanced propulsion technology to help us deliver more fuel-efficient cars today and in the future,” said Tom Stephens, vice chairman, Global Product Development. “GM is using multiple technology pathways to achieve increased efficiency and to diversify energy sources – and we’re applying them where they make the most sense for customers when it comes to efficiency, performance and cost.”

The LaCrosse main competitors, the Lincoln MKZ and Acura TL are not available with four cylinder engines. So Buick expects it has an advantage even before the street-level comparisons begin.

The 2.4-liter Buick LaCrosse will be offered "later this year" with a base price slightly below the 3.0-liter LaCrosse of $27,085.