Buick Spent At Least 1,000 Hours Optimizing Verano’s Seats For Comfort
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With several hours remaining before we get behind the wheel of the 2012 Buick Verano, the Trishield brand has just announced that its engineers have spent at least 1,000 hours working on seating comfort to prevent hot spots on long drives in the new compact sedan. Development time was also spent finding a way to protect hair-dos from headrest interference.
To deliver top-notch seat comfort and interior craftsmanship luxury vehicle owners have come to expect, Buick benchmarked the Verano against key competitors such as the Acura TSX and Lexus IS, making comfort a first priority.
“When we set out to design a comfortable interior for Verano our goal was for customers to feel like vacation begins as soon as they get in the car, and not when they reach their destination,” said Brian Schell, Verano program engineering manager.
The vacation reference is quite fitting in our opinion, given the fact that the Verano is Spanish for summer… get it?
As far as materials go, the Verano’s chairs use the same grade of premium leather, support foam, and padding as the larger (Buick flagship) LaCrosse. The seat bolsters on the Verano, however, are designed to provide an increased amount of side support to hold passengers in the most comfortable position.
Buick is also extolling the craftsmanship of the Verano’s interior, calling attention to French-stitched leather, an adjustable center console armrest, and padded door arm rests and bolsters. While a leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear selector are standard fare, a heated wheel and seats are available as an option. The center stack controls have a soft-touch texture and automatic climate control, coupled with voice control via Buick’s new Intellilink infotainment system, are standard.
But what really caught our attention was the fact that Buick shoehorned a dozen noise-reducing technologies throughout the Verano’s body structure for improved cabin acoustics (read: cabin silence). We thought the Cruze, the Verano’s platform mate, was already very quiet; looks like we’ll find out soon enough just how quiet the Verano really is.
The GM Authority Take
It’s great to see Buick mention direct luxury competitors such as the Acura TSX and Lexus IS by name. To us, this shows that the Trishield is truly serious about competing in the higher end of the segment sooner rather than later. Additionally, the Opel Astra doesn’t get these modifications, suggesting that Buick has the freedom to pick its own direction rather than import straight-on rebadges. Even then, it’s important to remember that the average car-buying public will actually appreciate these ancillary comfort features more than automotive enthusiasts ever will.
Here are our first impressions of the Verano at the 2011 New York Auto Show. Enjoy!
Exterior
Interior
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What a ridiculously bad move to put this kind of marketing out there. How many people buy a car based on it’s ability to accomodate their hairstyle?? 10? 20? How many people just scratched this car off the list to consider because it’s now the “ponytail” car.
10,000-20,000? Why back yourself into a corner like this?
I don’t know about this yet. While I’m personally not aware of any car being (or having been) marketed with the hair style angle, I think this resonates well with more people than car guys like us like to think. People make cars based on cup holder position/location and amount, for crying out loud — so I wouldn’t put it past them to think about their wonderful hairdos in the morning when going to work or at night when going out.
Get a girlfriend LFX323HP and you’ll find out.
My wife complains about this regularly in my 2008 DTS. She prefers the headrests in my 1999 Tahoe and 1996 Impala SS.
To me this is Buick sweating the small details.
My wife might think it’s great! But why limit yourself to the ladies by using this type of marketing?? Buick needs every sale it can get.
Have you noticed how hard VW is trying to convince guys that the “new” Beetle is not a just a “chick” car . Once you get that label it’s mighty difficult to remove.
VW has a much bigger problem on its hands with the perception of the Beatle in the States. As you said, it’s synonymous with a chick car outside car guy circles who actually appreciate its compact footprint and nimble abilities. Their goal is to increase masculine appeal of the Bug.
That’s not the case for Buick. What you see here with the seating and hair-do stuff is part of the mutli-faceted launch campaign for the car. They’re obviously catering to women here. But give it a bit, and you’ll see some materials for to men as well.
In other Buick news, the Regal GS is finally at dealers!