2012 Buick LaCrosse Starts At $29,960, Has New Trim Levels To Boot
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Buick has just published all kinds of juicy information about the 2012 LaCrosse on its website, revealing that the mid-size full-size luxury sedan will start at $29,960 — a $2,830 increase compared to the outgoing 2011 model. And unlike the 2011 LaCrosse, the 2012 does away with three-letter trim levels (CX, CXL, CXS) in favor of seven (yes, seven) equipment groups that we outline below.
2012 Buick LaCrosse Equipment Groups
| 2012 LACROSSE BASE | CONVENIENCE EQUIPMENT GROUP | LEATHER EQUIPMENT GROUP | PREMIUM I EQUIPMENT GROUP | PREMIUM II EQUIPMENT GROUP | PREMIUM III EQUIPMENT GROUP | TOURING EQUIPMENT GROUP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSRP: $29,960 | MSRP: $30,430 | MSRP: $31,895 | MSRP: $32,440 | MSRP: $33,865 | MSRP: $35,285 | MSRP: $38,270 |
| Front-wheel drive (FWD) | ALL LACROSSE BASE FEATURES, PLUS: | ALL CONVENIENCE EQUIPMENT GROUP FEATURES, PLUS: | ALL LEATHER EQUIPMENT GROUP FEATURES, PLUS: | ALL PREMIUM I EQUIPMENT GROUP FEATURES, PLUS: | ALL PREMIUM II EQUIPMENT GROUP FEATURES, PLUS: | ALL PREMIUM III EQUIPMENT GROUP FEATURES, PLUS: |
| EPA-est. 25 city/36 hwy MPG | Auto-dimming Inside Rearview Mirrors | Available in FWD & AWD models (AWD requires V6 engine) | Available in FWD & AWD models (AWD requires V6 engine) | Available in FWD & AWD | Harman/kardon Audio System | Side Blind Zone Alert |
| 2.4L ECOTEC Direct Injection 4-Cylinder engine with eAssist Technology | Remote Start | Leather-appointed seats | Rear Park Assist | 303 horsepower V6 | 120 volt Power Outlet | Head-Up Display |
| StabiliTrak Electronic Stability Control System | Power Driver Lumbar | Heated front seats | Memory Settings | EPA-est. 17. city/27 hwy MPG (FWD) | 18" Chrome Wheels | Articulating HID Headlamps |
| 6-Speed Automatic Transmission with Driver Shift Control | Universal Home Remote | Power Passenger Seat | Auto-Dimming Outside Rearview Mirrors | Heated Steering Wheel | HiPerStrut Front Suspension | 19" Wheels |
| QuietTuning | Foglamps | Power Rear Sunshade | Real-Time Dampening | |||
| LED turn signals on Outside Rearview Mirrors | Passive Entry/Push-Button Start | Sport Mode Selectivity |
To start, the base $29,960 LaCrosse eAssist doesn’t really have an equipment group, instead being called, well, the 2012 Buick LaCrosse. From there, we have the stair-step increments of equipment groups: Convenience Equipment Group, Leather Equipment Group, Premium I Equipment Group, Premium II Equipment Group, Premium III Equipment Group, and — finally — Touring Equipment Group.
The GM Authority Take
As expected, this is a step in the right direction. We’re ardent supporters of the slow yet progressive move of Buick upmarket — and thus welcome the nigh-$3,000 increase in the base price of the Epsilon II-based sedan, which now features the eAssist mild hybrid system as standard equipment.
However, Buick is calling itself a luxury brand nowadays, which begs the question: why in the heck is leather, push-button start, and power front seats (with memory) not standard across the board? Let’s remember that the LaCrosse’s primary competitors — the Lexus ES350 and Acura TL — start at 36,725 and $35,605, respectively. In that regard, Buick has almost $5,000-worth of headroom with the LaCrosse, headroom that should result in the standardization of even more features while decreasing the seven stair-step packages into something more simple, like three or four.
Why? Because a luxury brand should offer luxury as standard equipment… not as an option.
Note: if you’re wondering about the absence of the IntelliLink infotainment system, GM tells us that it will be available shortly after the launch of the 2012 LaCrosse.
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I think it’s kinda too much trims….. But then Alex you’re very right about the Luxury part because Luxury cars suppose to be standard with leathers, etc. But I might guess Buick might also keep some Chevrolet or Pontiac owners.
Yeah, but then what’s the point of Buick? There’s literally no luxury in the first three trim levels… I can get the same with a Malibu, albeit in a bit shorter ride.
Unless they’re using the base as a temporary vehicle to transition those Pontiac buyers?
That’s what I was thinking also… Because i don’t know if there’s any people that transitioned their G6 or Grand Prix/G8 to either Regal or LaCrosse but it can be possible. I have seen people transitioned their Malibu to the LaCrosse before.
Yeah, there are just so many different variables that go into purchase decisions that it’s pretty much impossible to predict them without some concrete market data/research that focuses on behavioral analysis. Would be nice to get our hands on that!
To me it is kinda weird that people transitioned from LeSabres to Regals because LeSabre is kinda soft.
Yeah, the LeSabre is much softer than and a different car compared to the Regal, which is more refined, but “stiffer” — which is part of that refinement. I still think the perfect midsize pure luxury sedan is the ES350 — it’s smooth, silent, isolates the passengers and the cabin, but is still peppy. That should be the target for the Regal… and the LaCrosse should become a full sizer. Unless the Regal is just a temporary vehicle to fill the product void…
Because I’m very confused at a moment for Buick’s lineup. The Enclave and LaCrosse is a fine right now but the Regal and Verano is the one that I’m confused about since Regal at first it says it’s IS and TSX competitor then I go to another site and then it says Verano is IS and TSX competitors and both Regal and Verano pretty much offers same powertrain. Or was Verano suppose to be Jetta’s competitor? And since Verano is going offer the turbo, will it have the same power as the GS?? Because if it is, it’s kinda just kicking Regal out.
That’s the thing, isn’t it! The Regal was originally supposed to be the next gen G6… Instead of killing it, they decided to bring it to the States anyway.
However, from everything I’ve been hearing (and some common sense), the Regal is a stop gap vehicle… A temporary car meant to fill the time release gap between the Verano and LaCrosse. Dealers were dry of new product and couldn’t wait until 2012 for Verano after the 2010 debut of LaCrosse… And the Insignia was already deigned to be a global vehicle, so the development costs were already sunk. And thats how the Regal was born…
My guess? Regal goes away after this generation… Maybe they’ll make it a trim level of the LaCrosse. But all evidence points to the Regal being a stop gap.
Also, the Jetta isn’t any mightier than the Cruze. In reality, the Verano is truly the IS and TSX competitor… Which themselves compete with the 3, C, and A4.
But since Buick has the Regal already, they had to move the Verano downmarket in price. Without the Regal, the Verano would most likely have a base price of $25,000, give or take.
This is why I’m such a huge proponent of making the entire Buick lineup a soft and comfortable brand like Lexus, while Caddy will fight BMW on the performance luxury side. Two different approaches to luxury… Neither is better or priced lower/higher; just different.
But then I guess Regal won’t be going away for a while since now it’s selling so great…. But then there’s GS and now that car compares to the TSX V6 or often people compare with 3 series or the G37
True, the Regal is doing well… for a new car in its first year on sale.
But image what could be possible if Buick had a “proper” lineup: compact, midsize, full-size luxury sedans.
– The Compact would be the no-holds-barred Verano
– The Midsize would be the no-holds-barred LaCrosse
– The Fullsize would be a true flagship… based on the XTS — which makes sense for Buick since it’s not a performance-luxury brand (at least not to the extent that Caddy is).
At that point, the Regal is unneeded and unnecessary. And then you can have a GS trim for every model. What would happen to sales then? They’d skyrocket, that’s my prediction.
But isn’t it the full size Buick is going to be on the Zeta Platform as maybe the Lucerne replacement??
What I think is that the LaCrosse will become Buick’s full-sized flagship sedan, since it already replaced the Lucerne. Then the Regal can fit in more comfortably as the only mid-sizer in the Buick lineup, while the Verano will have been doing fine, since its the only compact sedan Buick has right now.
Very good plan. I hope you’re right.
The LaCrosse has room to grow to full size by taking up the Super Epsilon platform and becoming 200+ inches long!
Additionally, an executive from GM Europe recently told us that GM is aware that the Buick lineup as it relates to Regal and LaCrosse is “very strained” and that we should “expect that to not be [the case]” in the future.
🙂
I don’t think there should be more then 3 trim levels on any cars, except trucks.
I don’t think Buick is worried about the Malibu being competition for the LaCrosse anymore, since that car will be based on the Regal from now on. I would think they are filling the gap in the Chevrolet lineup by taking/keeping the LaCrosse a bit downmarket. That, of course, is an error that I think Bob will fix soon enough, IF they choose to listen to him. The bad thing is that these decisions were made before he came back on line and would cause more damage to stop them mid-release. He will likely get blamed for the decision though, even though he would have had no part in it.
Yupp, this entire “gap filling” based on brands is nothing short of ridiculous. That’s why I’m such a big fan of GM going back to brand/divisional autonomy, where each brand becomes a business unit (a division) and shares in overall engineering… but then is responsible for profit and loss at the end of the day, as well as positioning, with some kind of guidance/approval from the centralized corporate folks. One can dream, right? 🙂
Or not unless Buick want to target the Toyota Avalon also??
Alex I do not think your dream will come true due to tax issues. Having seperate divisions will only add management to handle the extra business requirements. As far as the content there has been alot of internal discussion on Buick which has quite a diverse customer from older to new previous import owners to price conscience buyers that are downsizing due to the economy. We think we have hit all three of these customers starting at the bottom three levels covering the older traditional buyers of buick and the last 3-4 covering the new to Buick customers. the pricing anounced is much more competitive than any other brand we compete against and that is in an effort to lead this segment. We are doing what we can to be competitive There are no positioning issues at all with the line up and as you see Buick develop products the diifferances will become much clearer and I think you will like the positioning of all the Brands we have for North America, the Cruze and Verano are the first step in this differentiation of Brands. One Question did we position the Cruze and Verano differantly enough for complete coverage of the smaller segment, minus a two door, which is coming in the near future? That same type of coverage will be with Malibu Impala, Regal, Lacrosse and on the top of all of that will be the ATS and CTS.
There are many, many ways to avoid the taxation you’re describing, especially for an organization the size of and with the brain trust of GM. In the scenario I propose, the brands don’t all need to be independent firms, but someone, at the end of the day, needs to be responsible for a brand’s Profit and Loss internally (rather than externally, which I think is what I made it seem in my previous comment).
The Cruze is perfectly positioned, in my opinion, save for the lack of a high-performance version which… GM practically just handed that segment to Ford on a silver platter. The same good positioning can be said about the Verano, although since Buick is a “luxury” brand, it shouldn’t have any models that start in the low $20,000s. That ain’t luxury, no matter which way you slice it — and leads to a loss in exclusivity that a true luxury brand brings to the table.
Here’s my question: why is leather not standard on the LaCrosse? It’s Buick’s “official” luxury sedan — and all of its competitors have leather standard (ES, TL). It seems that its low (lower?) price point comes at the expense of standard features… which, again, offer luxury as an option, rather than standard.
Not unless Buick is also trying to convince Avalon owners??
What about the Avalon? It comes with leather standard… and also starts at $33,000. That’s Impala territory — the next-gen Impala, not the current one that’s rather outdated… even though I personally like it.
Chevy is for competing with Toyota.
Caddy is for competing with BMW and Audi in the sport luxury segment.
Buick should be for taking on Lexus (and maybe even Mercedes) in the comfort/pure luxury segment.
No other automaker can attack the luxury market the way GM can with two brands (Buick and Caddy), serving two completely different kinds of luxury buyers.
Really true!
I also just noticed that the wheel shown in the gallery above is the same kind of wheel shown on the ’13 Malibu shown on the Chevrolet website.
You’re right, Freddy — good eye!
The Malibu you see on the Chevy site is the ECO model — it’s analogous to the LaCrosse eAssist. But it’s important to keep in mind that the Malibu shown is a pre-production model — so minor things (like wheel design) may change at launch, although I wouldn’t expect them to.
You can see the Malibu Eco (and its wheels) as they appeared at their New York Auto Show debut right here:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2011/04/nyias-2011-2013-chevy-malibu-ltz-eco-differences-video/
I think it’s a little bit kinda different