Buick recently revealed its future product plans to Automotive News and we’re happy to say GM’s premium brand has plenty on the docket in the coming years.
While much of the news centers on plans for the Buick Envision crossover and its arrival in North America in 2016, the brand also plans to realign its sedan lineup in order to be more competitive and attractive to potential buyers.
For instance, the Tri Shield brand sees a big opportunity with the midsize Regal, which has lost some sales sizzle since the arrival of the Verano in 2011. Luckily, an all-new Regal should appear in 2017, delivering an evolution of Buick’s appealing and welcoming design language. Though that’s a good thing, but not vital given that the Regal and Opel-Vauxhall Insignia on which it is based, has always been an attractive vehicle. What’s perhaps more important is that the 2017 Buick Regal will grow increase in size to create more breathing room between it and the smaller Verano.
The current-generation Buick Regal rides on GM’s short-wheelbase Epsilon II platform and boasts an overall length of 190.2 inches, six inches longer than the 183.9 inches on the Delta II-platformed Verano. Despite the being longer, the two vehicles have a very similar wheelbase: the Regal’s is 107.8 inches while the Verano’s measures in at 105.7 inches. As such, there is obvious space to grow the next-generation Regal in length and — more importantly — wheelbase.
The growth will be furnished by GM’s new global E2XX platform shared with the all-new 2016 Chevrolet Malibu, making us believe that the 2017 Regal will have similar dimensions as its Chevy-badged platform mate. To note, the 2016 Malibu measures in at 193.8 inches in length from a wheelbase of 111.4 inches.
Just as important as growing the Regal in size is decreasing its curb weight. The E2XX architecture is key to achieving this goal. We expect the 2017 Buick Regal to be 300-500 pounds lighter than the outgoing Epsilon II-based model. The lighter curb weight should not only help with improving fuel economy, but also making the vehicle more agile and dynamic.
The new Regal will also get a new standard engine, likely the 1.5L I4 turbo introduced in the 2015 Malibu; the 2.0L I4 LTG turbo will remain the more potent, up-level engine. Currently, the standard engine in the Regal is the turbo-charged 2.0L I4 LTG; the mild-hybrid 2.4L I4 LUK is available on the Premium I equipment group and the 2.4L I4 LEA is standard on the fleet-only Regal. Fans of the Regal GS will be happy to know that the range-topping trim will live on for the next-gen Buick Regal, though which motor will provide motivation for the sporty model is still unclear. Also ambiguous is the much-rumored, yet unconfirmed Regal Grand National and Regal GNX models.
Inside, the 2017 Regal will have the latest in-vehicle technology as well as active safety/driver assistance features.
We expect the 2017 Buick Regal to be unveiled and go on sale some time during the 2016 calendar year. Its trans-Atlantic cousin, the Opel-Vauxhall Insignia, should land right around the same time.
Comments
Buick still has the problem that it’s holding a Pontiac and a Saturn in its lineup. Bumping up the Regal GS to the V6 and it competes too much with Lacrosse. Keep it at LTG and it then could underperform even more versus Verano Turbo with the longer wheelbase.
Buick needs to answer one key question – when a buyer walks into a showroom stateside, what distinguishes Regal from Lacrosse? If buyers can’t clearly tell in the showroom, they’re going to go home… and look at other brands too.
For the record, I think Regal is the most attractive, best designed Buick in years – but lengthening the wheelbase just puts it in conflict with Lacrosse more, it doesn’t fix the brand overlap – merely shifts it.
I would prefer Lacrosse shifting to Alpha, and becoming the cheapened Cadillac that Lucerne long served. Regal then would open up to China customers and Lacrosse would move upmarket over there, replacing Park Avenue.
I have a Regal GS and it is a sweet ride, though I wish it had more low end power for off the line acceleration but it is a 4 banger with a turbo so you sacrifice some low end grunt. I don’t mind a larger Regal if they increased the size of the Lacrosse to make them different.
Increasing Lacrosse’s wheelbase would be difficult. E2XX has platform limitations, and it already is a long wheelbase Epsilon II.
Detroit already pushed it as long as it could under Epsilon II from what Opel had put into the platform, in order to appease China buyers that want long backseats to be chauffeured around in.
If Lacrosse moves to E2XX, they will have to do other things to it, in order to distinguish. I fear they may go the route of making an E2XX Avenir – taking the warm-reception from the Omega design study, and figuring most buyers will accept a FWD version. And in China, they might.
Christopher,
You are correct in most of what you have said. However, I should say that E2XX will be significantly more flexible than the Epsilon/Epsilon 2 in terms of being stretched/modularized.
Enter P2XX:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/gm/gm-platforms/p2xx/
That’s where I was pointing, but like I said, I think it’s a misstep for GM. I didn’t want to confirm Lacrosse is using P2XX on both shores – but it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion. Much like the Continental – a car that everyone wanted to be RWD in Concept, delivered as FWD in production.
The one wiggle-room factor there will be if Buick and Opel can derive a rear-bias torque-vectoring AWD array so that sport-mode delivers RWD off the line with a tangible gain in 0-60 over FWD mode. Which is possible – but uncertain seeing as Ford barely pulled that off with Focus RS, a much smaller car.
The new LaCrosse which has been announced is larger than what this Regal will be. The length is 197.5 inches and the wheelbase is 114.4 inches. Not quite the Cadillac size you are looking for, but much bigger than the Malibu’s 193.8/111.4. That will make the back seat bigger by four inches (approximately).
Of course, now that Buick is dropping the Verano I don’t know what they are getting away from. They could have left the Buick at its current size for the “low end” of the market and not conflict with anything. In that respect I agree – the cars are too close to each other except for the fact the Buick Regal is the more sporty car, while the LaCrosse is more “estate” kind of car. I would only consider a Buick Regal to replace my 10+ year old GM Saab 9-3, not a LaCrosse for that very reason. However, not looking to replace it yet as at 143,000 miles it still runs great on the 2.0 liter turbo that the current Regal uses (much upgraded of course).
You do realize it has more torque lower down than some V8 models and also has a flatter torque curve.
The little 4 also has more torque and HP than the GN did and can be tuned very easily up to 400 HP if you can get the Transaxle to live.
My Turbo is right on 300 HP and 315 FT LBS.
The GNX was only 276 HP
I’ve driven plenty of turbo ecotec motors to know that unless the car weighs around 3000lbs with a tune, they are nothing to get excited about. They have absolutely nothing on a modern day v8, don’t kid yourself. If you could get a regal gs awd with even a 5.3 there would be one in my garage, but the 2.0t in that big of a car is a huge turn off.
Don’t ever mention the GNX compared to your car again. It’s just silly. That car could do mid 13s stock which was incredible in its day. The new gs does high 14s which is slower than pickups and minivans if they opt for the bigger engine.
Since when is Buick all about 0-60 times? This isn’t circa 1985 anymore. New times, new priorities, new engines, new driving experiences. Let’s see how today’s Regal GS handles against a GN or a GNX from 3 decades ago.
Also, the 2.0T LTG does just fine in cars that weigh 3,500-4,000 pounds. Regal GS is one, but they’re even more dynamic and in the ATS and CTS. Don’t underestimate the power of a boosted two-oh. Oh, and even if you could put a V8 in today’s Regal (not possible without gutting the entire car and changing its orientation), you would be making the car as nose-heavy as a bike doing a brake stand.
The Regal GS is a turd. It’s a great car outside its lackluster acceleration.
The 5.3 comment was more tounge in cheek than anything as the 2.0t falls very short of any v8 GM is using stateside, so to say it is comparable is just foolish.
Also, pretty sure the grand Prix gxp – which is fwd with a 5.3 wasn’t so nose heavy it did brake stands. But I meant awd or at the very least, rwd. In Europe they sold the car with an iron turbo6 which had a weight similar to the All aluminum v8.
My point isn’t they need to put a v8 in it, my point is that the 2.0t as the top engine choice ruins the car. ATS is merely OK with it due to weighing a lot less.
Not happening today with the EPA edict of the Obama administration. How else is GM and everyone else going to get to 52 mpg by 2025?
Why you are seeing the downsizing of engines and turbocharging everywhere. GM is doing it (one of the earliest), Ford is doing it, BMW is doing it, Mercedes is starting to do it, Honda is starting to do it – lot of manufacturers are doing it. Cars are getting lighter as well and that won’t stop either. Unless you drive a truck or a true sports car, a V8 is going to be impossible to find (and that is pretty much the case already).
I almost always respond to marketing than anything else. In that I’m a simpler car buyer. So, like you say, when I walk into a car dealer looking at sedans —
— which I never do but am doing so for the sake of discussion, lol —
— I want to know which sedan is, you know, the ‘fancy’ one. The ‘status’ one. As in, oh, there’s nothing wrong with this Civic sedan, but don’t you really want THE ACCORD? (OOoo! Accord!) How about an ULTIMA? (Ooo! That sounds so ULTIMATE somehow!) CAMRY has never sounded fancy to me, but I do get it’s the BIG deal one… and not the lowly Corolla.
So when I walk into a Buick dealer, I can’t find the FANCY one. I know it’s not the Verano. But is the Regal a small lame LaCrosse, or is the LaCrosse just a long Verano and the Regal is the ‘special’ performance one?
Marketing dictates you put people clueless of Buick in a room and ask them, “Which is the fancier sounding car? Which has the more status? A Regal or LaCrosse?” No pictures of the cars, just ask.
My gut tells me the Regal would win. And so if the Regal isn’t the fanciest Buick ride, confusion. Based on prices I gather the LaCrosse is the ‘Accord’ if you will (I know, not a luxury car, bear with me) and so what is the Regal? Based upon what little I know it’s the performance car, but then why call it ‘Regal’ when it should be called… I don’t know… something that sounds faster than fancy?
What distinguishes a Regal from LaCrosse? Simple. Size. That should be the only difference.
Sure, being smaller can allow the Regal to be more dynamically advanced. But make the Regal a slightly larger midsize sedan should give Buick the ability to make the LaCrosse a true full-size sedan.
The two can share engines going forward, for all I care.
It is not the Regal Grand National or Regal GNX. Holy spit do you people do anything related to journalism? Is fact finding a lost art? They are the Buick Grand National and Buick GNX.
It’s fair today to call it the Regal GNX – keep in mind, most millennials have never touched or even seen a GNX in-person, let alone know what car underpinned it.
Rando,
My name is Chris and I am one of the editors here. Pleasure to make your acquaintance… digitally.
I would like to point out that the Grand National and GNX have always been Regals. If memory serves me right, during the 1981/1982 MY debut of the GN and GNX, the vehicles were called: “Buick Regal Grand National”.
So to answer your question: yes, we do quite a bit of journalism around here… when we’re not responding to comments like yours, that is 😉
Cheers!
Chris
Chris. Sent you guys an email almost two hours ago. Do you cover these type of stories —
http://www.cnet.com/news/ownstar-onstar-hack/
Or did I miss it being covered here?
What moron thumbs downed this? Is this a fanboy site or an actual news site?
John,
As I have already communicated to you via email, here is our coverage of the OnStar hacking story:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2015/08/gms-onstar-remotelink-hacked-fixed-within-24-hours/
Chris
Rando. You’re an idiot. Get your facts and history straight.
Thank you,
The Internet.
I hope they make it a coupe to boot! That’d be cool.
Dear Buick, as you design the next Regal, and every vehicle to come afterwards, focus on those two key words: “competitive and attractive”. Hyundai is stealing your market share; not to mention sister brand Chevy. Play the role of an effective premium brand by showcasing attractive and dynamic styling, more content, and a better driving experience than the Chevys your cars are based on. If you do these things, I’d be more than happy to have a Buick in my driveway!
Hyundai sucks d***
war in side gm – thats comedy. someone hate chevrolet, someone hate buick- someone hate opel and hate europe. grazy gm fans. gm build better car than VAG group VW or something else. not built better car than chevrolet ahhaaa.
new chevrolet malibu is bretty good and nice thing. stop war inside gm. kill other brands companys. all gm cars must be verry good things not that is better or this or this is better ……
We really need to give them time to release this car and the new Lacrosse to see where they intentions are going. At this point I expect both cars are to be much different than what we have today in many ways.
The Regal is really an old car from Opel and the Lacrosse was born under duress of Chapter 11 before they filed. Lutz did a lot with very little here and it has served well but it is time to move this car up.
I think with each and every new Buick we all will say is that a Buick.
Just look at the present Malibu designed under the same time as the Lacrosse but delayed to market vs. the new coming Malibu. This is the change I expect.
Each model will adjust to their place in the market and we will see another few models we have not heard of yet.
More turbo’s and AWD will play an important part here. Think lower end Audi like cars.
No offense, my friend, but “give them time” is your handle for both Cadillac and, now, Buick.
At some point, someone (management, the media, the market, shareholders, dealers, or all the above) are gonna say WTF? LaCrosse, -44%? Verano – 41%? CTS -39%? When does ‘time’ kick-in?
“Millennials” won’t even be Millennials any more on the time continuum you’re giving Buick and Cadillac.
They’ll be middle-aged. And Nicki Manaj and Taylor Swift will be performing in Indian Casinos, instead of Air Supply and Marshall Tucker.
So you have some magic way to turn Buick and Cadillac around with only one generation of product. Well if you do hold such magic you had better share it.
Reputations and Image are earned over several versions of constantly improving models and over time .
Buick has yet to release a car on a new platform yet. Changes are just now going to start and will take time to take root. No car company has turned around on one model and in one year. Hyundai took a decade plus. BMW took about 12 years to gain traction in this country. Audi took almost 18 years with the 60 min set back.
Now lets also not confuse image and volume with making money.
As with Cadillac it will take time as they are revamping to where they should have been at the break from Chapter 11. They now have the money and the leadership with freedom to do as they need to do. No more just good enough but now the target is to be better than the rest.
Now again here is the key. While Volume is not up GM could have discounted the cars and sold more buy at much lower volumes and at the risk of becoming again seen as someone who has to rely on large discounts to sell cars. The dirty little secret is Cadillac is making more money per unit today than they have in decades. They also are the second highest profit car in the segment only surpassed buy Land Rover according to Bloomberg.
Cadillac is selling at 7 percent less than a BMW a year ago BMW was 14% more but Cadillac has held their ground and is making more money per unit.
In place of discounting the cars $2000 they included $2200 in options to increase the value to the customer. This is how you build image and make a buck.
Cadillac still has to work out the rest of their marketing and such too.
The bottom line in the new leader of Cadillac just got here just over a year ago. His changes in the product will not be seen or felt till 2017 at the earliest outside adding options and such. Production and design changes take much longer and the min 2 years to produce.
Buick on the other hand has been in limbo and the changes at Chevy were taking place and as GM sorted out Holden and Opel as they now share Buicks models too. We are just now going to see the changes starting next year and no it is not going to fix everything in one year. It will take a series of dedicated improved models, Marketing and time for people to give them a chance and to build on their image.
But in the mean time with sales in China they are making money and will be ok with slow growth here.
Sorry but GM has to tough this out in the transition or you will train the customer to just sit there and not buy till you discount the car like hell. Incentives are like Heroin and in time it will kill you.
The fact is a successful company is a profitable company and many can do that as #2 or #3 in a segment.
There is no easy or fast way to the top. You have to earn it over time and there is no other way to do it.
I agree with Scott3 (yes I do!) for his stated reasons but also for a few of my own. Yes, once again, one of my diatribes on branding, reliability, design, and mileage. If you’re going to thumbs down this because I am critical, don’t bother reading and do so now. (You know, like usual.)
Regarding Buick — they are perfectly positioned to become amazing. Reliability has made it a Consumer Reports darling. Mileage is decent in some of their vehicles, which is to say it’s not a planet killing line of cars.. It’s got a lot going for it.
Design? Verano, Regal, and LaCrosse brought to you buy Ambien. You want the near-luxury bucks you have to create BEAUTIFUL cars. I sense from stories here that they’re on their way.
So all that’s left is branding. And it’s painful. Buick isn’t even remotely cool. It’s as cool as laying in the sun in Vegas today. The cool thing is —
— they’re working on that the right way. And just as Scott3 said this takes time. And based on what I’ve seen it’s going to work.
Cadillac.
Reliability? Has to dramatically improve or Cadillac is finished. Perhaps a Band Aid of ten year/100,000 coverage.
Style? Already impressive and it will give them Scott’s time to fix reliability.
Mileage? I believe Cadillac must offer a Verano-esque vehicle that’s all style, entry priced, and gets eye-popping mileage. I don’t give a crepe if it’s a re-badged Verano. Make the interior utterly breathtaking if there needs to be a justification for it being Cadillac.
Branding? Fix reliability and mileage on at least one petrol Cadillac… the name will do the rest.
John thank you for the support and giving me a chance to work with you.
It will take time and still it may or may not work. You can never know what market changes can come into play. Something always comes along to mess things up like a weak or failing economy to slow or stop rebuilding process.
Buick is one of the divisions GM can play a little with once they get Chevy and Cadillac on their feet. Chevy will be in pretty good shape after next year and Cadillac is now funded and just needs the time to improve the product even more. What they have is good but Johan wants better. I like the sound of that.
Buick GM can and will take some risk with it to fit it in the middle range. Now for Cadillac they will get smaller cars as will everyone as it can’t be avoided. Just with the new management at Cadillac do not expect any rebadges there. They may have a car on a shared platform but it will not be anything you would recognize as a shared platform.
Just a heads up many here do not really respect Consumer Reports as they are spotty in their testing. Case in point they in the past would test a Buick Regal DS and a Grand Prix GTP and rate the same cars much differently on objective things like platform and engines. The thing was they both shared the same engines, transmission and platforms. They would get different quality ratings and yet were built in the same plants. The truth was they were styled different but essentially they were the same cars. So if someone disagrees with you on the CS Report that is why. Like any magazine they are very subjective and get some things right and some things wrong. I have seen them praise cars that I had worked on that were pure junk and others that they said were junk that while were not perfect would run forever. But Motor Trend Car and Driver and Road and Track do the same too. Just letting you know before some one challenges the statement. It is nothing personal to you just many people have a jaundice eye to the media as they are not unbiased all the time even if they do not have advertising.
The Motor Trend car of the year is one of the biggest rigged deals there are.
We work with publications at work and the more advertising we buy the more we get into stories and features. Our name shows up a lot more when we spend money. At least in the magazines that accept advertising.
FYI the CT6 Hybrid will turn some heads in performance soon. The car is amazing. So will the new Malibu Hybrid that is coming.
John, what constitutes a “Verano-esque” vehicle? What are its key differentiators?
I ask because:
1. Cadillac already has a compact luxury family in the ATS sedan and coupe
2. Cadillac is already working on a subcompact/sub-ATS model with a lower price point to take on the A3/S3 and MBZ CLA-Class. In some respects (like price), the vehicle could compete with the Verano as well. But by no means can it be a “rebadged” Verano, as you suggest. That will undo everything Cadillac has been doing in building its brand, image, and reputation as the new performance/luxury leader of the world.
We addressed much of the second point here:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2015/05/cadillac-needs-a-sub-atssubcompact-sedan-yesterday-analysis/
I give the folks at the Tri-Shield credit for breathing new life into the Regal. The update is long overdue for one.
What’s stopping them from making an Alpha Regal?
The fact that it’s tied at the hip to the Insignia platform. And the fact that the primary competitors are FWD-based Lexus ES and Acura TLX.
What Silent said about the segment.
Buick is targeting also the lower end Audi segment with FWD/AWD as to make cars that will not step on Chevys toes nor Cadillac’s.
They also have to appeal to the China market as they already do as well try to fit the Opel Euro segment.
We will get variations of Alpha but they have to be placed properly as to not appear as badge engineering is taking over again too.
Even if they did you are not going to get a GN like car again. If they do a performance coupe even if it was RWD based odds are it will have AWD and it will be more Euro 2+2 coupe like as to better fit the American and Euro Markets. Cars today not only have to go but they also have to stop and turn in ways the old G body never did.
Even the Camaro is now more GT like than Pony car like.
Buick gets better and better with each new vehicle. I agree it could benefit from an injection of sex appeal and hopefully the Cascada, which should have been Riviera stateside, will help provide some.
Looking forward to the new Regal GS, but once again, I implore a name change. Regal is not only hokey and slightly cheesy, it reeks of octogenarian Buick devotees. Invicta! Cool, sexy and certainly almost no one under the age of 35 remembers the name ever existed.
You lost me with the Cascada comment. I think that car will be a total waste of time. It’s the size of the Verano and will no doubt be priced at or above what Chrysler was selling the significantly larger 200 convertible for. Plus, they couldn’t even be bothered to change the Opel grill – they’re just substituting a Buick badge!
If you want a “Riviera” convertible, it should evoke the styling (and at least come close to the size) of the classic early 80’s version.
I’ll reserve judgment on the new Regal. If it’s anything like the new Malibu that should help. I test drove a 2010 LaCrosse. Even though it’s considered a “large” car, it felt cramped above the beltline to me, with very poor side and rear visibility.
Lots of rumors flying around online about 2017 Buick Regal, Grand National & GNX. I know that the original Grand National & GNX were Regal-based back in the stone ages, but who says that the new ones must be? In a perfect world today, Buick would build a shiny brand new fwd, shared Opel fwd platform Regal sedan like they do now for general consumption – and then build rwd Grand National & GNX sedans and or coupes based on the Caddy ATS/Chevy 2016 Camaro platform for the folks who like performance cars. That would bring some traffic into Buick showrooms. To h*ll with what they did back in the 80’s folks, it’s 2015 last time I looked. Time to build some new Buick legends. I don’t care if your Gen X,Y, Z or Baby Boomed . . . you can always sell a young person’s car to enthusiastic kids of all ages. Just sayin’.
My Verano turbo is decent enough but next up I’m looking for more performance along with decent luxury, not less. The last thing I want is a bigger car. Weight reduction is much appreciated but it also has to fit easily in my garage.
The Opel APC hatch has to come over, how many times do i have to tell GM that. And the V6 turbo for this size car. Stop fooling around, aim to expand the demographics on the sharp end of of the scale. I’ll trade and buy a light 290 HP hatch tomorrow with no discounts required.
I bought a used (750 miles) 2014 Buick Regal GS exactly a year ago yesterday. I really like the car. And it doesn’t need to be bigger or have a longer wheel base. If I wanted a bigger car, I would have gotten a bigger car.
I sometimes feel like I know a secret that the rest of the world doesn’t about how much fun it is to drive this car. I went from a 2001 Nissan 370Z to this car, and of course, it isn’t nearly as fast, but it’s certainly fast enough. The ride is great, and it’s so much easier to get in and out of. I see better in this car, too, which I found to be quite a problem in the Z. I also love the technology in this car, from the dual memory seat (new to me), the backup camera, collision warning, blindspot lane change warning, remote start via my phone, send an address from my phone to my car, Onstar reports to my email, etc., etc. Most of all, I love streaming Pandora.
Just got the 2017 Regals in and they look just like the 2016 model.