Imagenation Cars

Now that General Motors has almost completed shedding its non-core brands, the company is refocusing attention to its main brands. The company is in research and development of a new sport coupe that could be sold as a Buick.


"Buick definitely needs more product in the pipeline," John Cafaro, director of design for Buick and Chevrolet, said in an interview last week at the Chicago Auto Show.

"My role is really being a zealot for getting Buick more youthful, more spirited and probing ideas [for] coupes, more expressive vehicles. That is really my job."


The automaker is in a similar position as Cadillac had been, with only an aging market segment showing any interest. According to Cafaro, Cadillac knew that they had "to carve a new image. That is where Buick is right now," he told the news outlet.


So far, five models -- all sedans and crossovers -- have been approved for Buick. The redesigned LaCrosse went on sale last fall. The 2011 Regal sedan goes on sale this spring. A small, unnamed sedan that will share a vehicle platform with the Chevrolet Cruze goes on sale in 2011. The Lucerne will be dropped in a year or so.


"Buick definitely needs more product in the pipeline," Cafaro said, later mentioning that the company needs a new car that makes a statement. Any such car would become Buick's flagship.


Cafaro said a coupe would make a statement for Buick, "and a statement means it is going to be the flagship. All the design cues and everything would drive themselves down into all Buicks.


"A coupe is definitely where you say, 'I'm back.' "

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