General Motors Files Trademark Application For ‘Velite’
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General Motors has filed a trademark application with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) for the term ‘Velite’.
First discovered by GM Authority, The General filed the application, serial number 86458313, on November 19th, 2014. The filing lists the goods and services category as: “motor land vehicles, namely, automobiles, sport utility vehicles, trucks, vans, engines therefor and structural parts thereof”.
To note, GM initially applied for the Velite trademark back in 2011. That application has not been granted, but is still active. It currently carries a status of “Fifth Extension – Granted”. That status denotes the fact that GM has received the fifth extension to submit Statement of Use document, which proves to the USPTO that it will use the trademark in a real-world product or service. The office allows applicants a total of six extensions to submit the Statement of Use, each lasting six months.
The Velite name was used by GM on a concept Buick coupe/convertible. Unveiled at the 2004 New York International Auto Show, the Buick Velite concept was a more practical design than the Bengal concept that preceded it. The concept used GM’s Zeta rear-wheel drive vehicle architecture shared with the Chevrolet Camaro and Holden Commodore, among others. It also featured traditional Buick styling cues such as the waterfall front grill, triple fender portholes, as well as clean, elegant lines. Under the hood sat an “experimental” twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter V6 rated at 400 hp (300 kW) and mated to a 6 speed automatic transmission.
We wonder if Buick is planning on using the Velite name for all-new model, or if the brand will simply use the name for the Opel Cascada convertible when it launches in North America as a Buick in 2015.
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Sounds like it will be for the Cascada. Velite is a good name for N.A. as Cascada is also a techno band in Germany. Remember “Evacuate the Dance Floor!”
Sounds promising. I’m anxious to see these next several new Buicks including the convertible.
My guess is a NA name for the Cascada. Looking over its pictures again, it sure is a good looking car. I hope they sell enough.
Bring it on…I’ll be the first in line…AWD ?…
Not standard in the current trim by Opel, but since it’s basically a Delta II car it can be added on should Buick want it.
That said I haven’t heard/seen any big Cascada retuning so it probably will debut as FWD only, and get added if there’s demand.
I could see a Cascada AWD selling well if the FWD model is slotted in at/around Verano pricing, but I think Buick will price it at around $30-33k and that will drive most interested buyers to a used E350 Cabrio or a 1/3 Series Convertible.
Hopefully Buick will learn lessons and collaborate with the newer, indie Cadillac on an ATS Convertible and make that a second-gen Velite.
Having a notchback ATS hatch and ATS convertible as the Buick Panamera and Velite would be dreamy. Sounds like GMNA brass agrees, but hasn’t yet pulled the trigger. Would also solve some of Holden’s woes too.
Buick needs more triggers pulled if it wants to stay competitive.
This will be the Cascada as the timing for this release is about right for the timing of the car to market.
I don’t expect the sales to make much difference to the bottom line but I do hope it makes a difference in Buicks Image as being stodgy.
It is not a good time for Convertibles as sales are down on most of them.
“This will be the Cascada”…
I suggest you rethink that entire statement. Also, why do you pose it as fact when it’s just speculation on your part?
Disappointing. My parents would have bought a Alpha/Zeta Velite. They’ll be buying an E550 Cabrio in January.
When my father saw the Cascada he said “Nice!”
I replied “FWD.”
His response: “Oh, shame.”
Christopher, the Cascada was never meant to compete with the E. That should be the job of a CTS vert. Or at the least an ATS vert. At least one of those is coming.
Nothing in my comment infers Cascada was intended to compete with those cars. My point is the Velite concept *was* intended to, and the production model *should* intend to.
People want a powerful RWD car from Buick, and they want a powerful RWD convertible. The mothballing of Pontiac should have made that a lock.
Remember when Bob Lutz lambasted his Ford concepts turning into Mercury FWD carp? It’s happening all over again to his GM concepts.
Selling Cascada here only makes sense as a bargain play… and I have my doubts as to the execution when it comes to MSRP.
Considering the ATS Convertible was halted (along with the G6 redux built off the ATS), I seriously doubt we’ll see an ATS or CTS convertible in the next two model years. It could happen, but it would add more weight to the “Camaro, Corvette or Cadillac Portfolio” of GM RWD. I’ll leave you to acronym that.
whats missing in the Buick line is a true flagship sedan what about a Roadmaster above the Lacrosse
The LaCrosse needs to become the flagship and move the other offerings upmarket with it. No Buick should offer cloth, for instance…
I don’t see the Lacrosse as a true flagship…..Lacrosse doesn’t sound like a top of the line name….Ive seen the spy shots of the 2017 Lacrosse.
Roadmaster doesn’t sound like a “top of the line” name. It sounds like a tired throwback to the 1950’s, and comes loaded with wood-paneling, bench seating, and no class-leading features.
Buick won’t ever become what you think it should be. GM’s full-size cars belong to Cadillac, not Buick.
the Impala is bigger than the Lacrosse…..I think it look kind of weird that chevy’s flagship is bigger than buicks…it should be the other way around.
Rather, Buick and Chevrolet shouldn’t be in the business of “Flagships”.
That, and you should be reminded again, that both the Impala and Lacrosse are not “flagships”, but are just cars in the “large” segment, as with the forthcoming CT6.
If you want full-size, then it would be from Cadillac as a CT8, as ONLY Cadillac could offer such a car with perfect execution.
If so, it’s barely noticeable. Both are LWB Epsilon II cars and share nearly everything in terms of platform. The LaCrosse was used to build the Impala.
I really can’t call the Impala a Chevy “flagship” – that would be the hopefully-not-soon-departing Chevy SS.
put a Electra a above the Lacrosse.
if that’s the case…..kill Buick and just have chevy and caddy lines and add more modals to chevy..I see buick as over priced and under rated.
Pretty much. GM, if its card were played right, would have only been Chevrolet and Cadillac; analogous to Toyota/Lexus and VW/Audi, and others.
I find todays Buicks cheesy….Buicks ware once great looking cars in the 1970s-1990s…. but now they got small and cheesy.
So why care about them? If you think their best cars were built 20 to 40 years ago, then buy ONLY cars from that time period and stop worrying about them today. The ‘States is chock full of old land barges; its not like you can’t find one.
You’re not going to buy any Buick newer than 1990, so it’s not worth your time and energy worrying about the 2015 LaCrosse if it was never going to be on your radar.
I would like future Buicks to be like the 1970s-1990s again…back than thare wore real looking cars…. not small, chunky want to be futuristic cheap looking cars…and I pefure new.
Like I said, you don’t like the present. The problem for you is that you are outgunned by hundreds of thousands of car buyers who want their new car to show the future, not a car that reminds people past and offers nothing useful for the world of 2015.
And don’t contradict yourself and say you “pefure” new when you’ve already said you want Buick to be like it was 20-40 years ago. You don’t want new Buicks no matter how they look, you only want old ones. Because of that attitude, virtually every new car is off your list, Buick included.
You’ve been born 40 years too late. You can’t change that fact. You can either accept what Buick offers, or walk away. GM will not tailor Buick just to fulfill your twisted idea of the past, no matter how much you’d like them to.
Buick will have a Electra in 2018…and have the same engines and plug in technoligy as the Caddy CT6. but will ride on a larger high-end E2XX. That starts at $55.000-60.000 in price.
Fact or fiction?
what about a stretched verson of the upcoming 2017 Lacrosse being the top-end one….. a longer wheel base Lacrosse…..one short one….. and a longer one….meanwhile we are seeing the original short wheel base 2017 Lacrosse in the spy shots but what about a longer verson of that coming a 1-2 years later.
stretch the Lacrosse like they did with the Infinity Q70…and the Lacrosse to become a Roadmaster or a Electra….or keep the Lacrosse name and call it Lacrosse limited.