When Holden pulled the sheet off the upscale VF Commodore Calais, many of us could vision the premium sedan being sold in other corners of the world, possibly as a Buick of some sort. But according to a report from Australia’s Motoring, GM design chief Ed Welburn suggested that the idea will not be realized. At least not yet.
“Buick is a very different brand than Holden or Chevrolet and I just think there is a good synergy between Holden and Chevrolet,” he said, continuing with “Buick is very different.”
Still, we can’t seem to shake the idea of a Buick-badged Calais. Some of you may recall that GM has filed to renew the Grand National and GNX trademarks, which have heritage of being sporty, rear-wheel-drive Buick models. So while we might not see a Zeta-based Buick as per Welburn, we may yet still find something in the future, perhaps on the Alpha platform.
Comments
I think this is a good plan, the XTS should have been a buick and this should have been re-engineered as a caddy. Or Omega should have been developed faster.
Makes a lot of sense as a Buick & as a Vauxhall & Opel, real nice car.
So you think that Opel Australia should seel the same car as an “Opel Commodore” under the slogan “Wir leben Autos”, which the Holden dealer on the other side of the road sells as a “Holden Calais”, and explaining — I quote from the Opel Australia website — »“Wir leben Autos” does not only refer to our German roots and the love we share for German engineering, it also expresses the strong emotion and passion that influences everything we do.«
I.e. the Opel twin of an Holden Calais as “german enginerring”?
Great idea, isn’t it?
I wish they would make it a Buick. The SS front end is ugly, and I’d rather have a V6 anyway. Actually the SS should have been the GNX performance version of the “Buick Calais” Chevy has too many models, and Buick has too many holes in the lineup.
Holden & Buick are very different and have no synergy? How does Ed explain the Holden Caprice re-badged as Buick Park Ave in China? China, where 50-60K Buick badged vehicles go across the curb every month, is where the the recent Buick brand direction comes from? Also, why try and re-hash the GN & GNX? Terrible idea! Highly unlikely the cars will ever be able to live up to the name(s) and they will just bump into ATS, ATS-V anyway?
I feel it’s too good of a car to be restricted to just one brand, sell it as both, VW sell countless cars that are similar and it seems to do them no harm, so why not have similar cars selling, back in the 70’s a Chevelle & GSX were similar & both sold well to their loyal customers so why not the same today.
Because the consumers are much, much smarter nowadays. The second news of Calais being sold as a Chevrolet and a Buick breaks, consumer won’t look at the two as seperate. The Buick will be seen as “just a rebadged Chevy”, and the Chevrolet will be seen as “just a rebadged Holden”.
Oh what does ED know…
Buick’s problem is its not allowed to be seen to be competing with Chevrolet or Cadillac. What’s wrong with a little overlap? It wouldn’t do any harm infect more good could come of it as buyers can remain loyal rather than jump into a rival brand.
This wouldn’t do well as a Buick. It’s the same size as the Regal (interior dimensions), for one. Buick needs a full-size flagship, not another midsize car masquerading as a full size one (LaCrosse). Keep Buick, Buick… align Holden with Chevy. Keep it simple.
This is classified as a full sized car though…
I agree that buick needs a full-size flagship I think the gnx or the lacrosse is not big enough to be a flagship.
201 inches in leghth would be a good size for a flagship.
Zeta is just getting old and zeta well not do good as a buick ….maybe buick should build a high-end premium FWD platform for the flagship. maybe SUPER-EPSILON-III
RWD & V8 it’s not rocket science, fine make a FWD V6 but make another with RWD & a V8.
The future is Chevy and Holden will pretty much become one. To be honest they are pretty much there is you visit the Holden web site you will see mostly Chevy cars with lion heads on them.
Opel and Buick are joined at the hip. The coming Alpha sedan is not far off and money spent making a Holden a Buick would be better spent on the new car we will see in the fall of 2014 at a 2015. The Alpha based car will be a great improvement over the VF.
Not sure how it will pan out, it’s not our decisions to make, all I ask is that they supply to demand & judging by this the demand is 1). FWD V6 saloon, 2). RWD V8 saloon. Do that and they won’t go far wrong.
When I say one front one rear, I don’t mean one Chevy one Buick I mean both as a Buick (and of course Vauxhall & Opel)
what is going to be the buick flagship in the near future?
Buick doesn’t need a “flagship”; Cadillac does.
Buick doesn’t need anything larger than the Lacrosse and should be subservient to Cadillac. Buick has no business making a full size car.
I disagree Buick, Vauxhall & Opel have always had full sized cars, some luxury, some performance. So there is sufficient business also it’s the marques target market (a Chevy seen as too downmarket a Cadillac perhaps to expensive), also with Chevrolet sitting below Buick/Vauxhall/Opel don’t anyone think it odd they’d be selling a bigger car than their upmarket siblings.
Calais was the base Cadillac from 1965. on below the De Ville series..I think it belongs to Cadillac and should be used there again…I always liked the name a lot 🙂
Thare is is too meny holes in the buick linup why not put a full-sizer above the lacrosse.
your wrong V8 JON.
I take that back I mean caddydaddy is wrong.
Your wrong growdaddy.
I think thay should bring back the PARK AVENUE name for the buick flagship…..lacrosse does not really fit as a flagship.
ether replace the lacrosse with a ful-size park avenue and add the grand national to the lineup ……or put a full-sizer wich would be a park avenue name above the lacrosse…..park avenue would fit better as a top of the line flagship.
A Zeta bodied Buick could potentially work here in the US because it works in China. The Chevy SS is a rebadged Holden Commodore, which is fine, and you all already knew that they were the same car….. But the Buick version would have to be a bit longer and have different front and rear facia along with some difference in side pannels. That way no one will say “the Buick (we’ll just call it Park Avenue) is just a rebadged Chevy”. Selling a car like this in the US and China would make good business sense, or at least I think so anyway. I would also love an Alpha bodied GNX and/or Grand National in coupe or sedan forms.
Calais was always a Cadillac…it should be there again, not Buick