General Motors has confirmed what we already knew: the Buick Cascada will be phased out at the end of the 2019 model year.
In a statement sent to Automotive News, GM said the Cascada was a success, attracting new buyers to the brand and outperforming other entries into the segment, but that it has now reached the end of its planned model lifecycle.
“The Cascada has played its role in the portfolio perfectly, outselling many other premium convertibles while bringing in buyers from outside GM,” the automaker told the publication in an email. “However, it has reached the end of its originally-planned lifecycle and 2019 will be the last model year offered.”
All is not lost if you still want a Cascada, however. The little Buick convertible doesn’t exactly fly off lots and GM says that many dealers “will have stock through the rest of this year.”
The framework for the Cascada’s death was laid late last year when Groupe PSA, which bought Opel from GM back in 2017, announced it would be discontinuing the Cascada in 2019. The Cascada is also sold as the Opel Cascada in parts of Europe, the Vauxhall Cascada in the United Kingdom and the Holden Cascada in Australia and New Zealand.
The Cascada went on sale in the US in 2016 as a 2016 model year vehicle. Its first year of sales was its strongest, when GM managed to move 7,153 examples of the droptop. It sold 5,595 Cascadas in 2017 and 4,628 in 2018.
With the demise of the Cascada, the only passenger car in Buick’s lineup from 2020 onward will be the Regal. The Buick LaCrosse will be discontinued when GM’s Detroit Hamtramck Assembly site closes down later this year, leaving only the Regal and its variants, along with the Encore, Enclave and Envision.
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Source: Automotive News
Comments
Buick will only exist in China.
Fat chance!
Good, enough already. Let Buick die in the U.S. which is what’s going to happen eventually and let the Chinese buy the company. And bring back Pontiac.
I knew this would happen. Buick is keeping the Regal and the crossovers. The fact their vehicle line-up is really small nowadays…I imagine them pulling out of the US and staying in China because they survive there.
Buick’s Cascada was a boring little car that never had much of a chance.. it’s obvious that none of the Buick Grand National guys were left because almost anyone would have known that the Cascada desperately needed more power as the 250hp LTG 2.0L DOHC-4v 4-cyl would have transformed the Cascada’s personality.
The Cascada was never meant to be like a Grand National. 200 hp suits the Florida rentals just fine.
The Cascada was never in any US rental fleets. Those of us who own them continue to enjoy putting the top down and comfortably cruising the coastlines of the world, boredom free. Sad that those who have never even driven one continue to bash the brand. Sadder yet that our next convertible will be sourced from the European manufacturers.
Boring or not, the Cascada attracted more new customers (on a percentage basis) to Buick than any other model in the past decade, and those who bought one, loved it. That counts for way more than an opinion from someone who seemingly has never driven one.
Again, this is not a ‘get em while they last’ situation, this is a major manufacturer giving up on an entire segment, and it will spill over in to the sales department.
Unlike the other cars slated to be sunsetted, this one can be excused due to Opel no longer being in the picture.
Still, the old habits of betting everything on the behemoths are returning. What’s worse this time, instead of just short changing the development of smaller cars, they are being killed off altogether.
Eventually the economy will take a dive, and gas will be expensive long before EVs are cheap. What’s the plan then?
Not sure the Cascada is the fuel efficient solution. 21 mpg city and weighs around 4000 lbs..
Non-luxury/sports-car convertibles are a dead market. The Mustang and Camaro will be the cheapest ones, followed by the premium brands (Audi, Lexus, etc). If Buick ever needs a compact car in the US again, they’ll look to one of the Chinese sedans (now that Opel is out). Until then, the Encore fills the niche.
Lexus doesn’t make a convertible in the $30,000 40,000 range due to an engineering flaw with the RC that prevents them from doing one well.
But to say that the encore would fill a niche left by a convertible is like saying that those who prefer sushi will be served just fine by a deli sandwich.
a lot of money spent at the wrong time and a undesirable model , another failing idea from GM
Can you imagine, if the suits at GM would listen to their loyal customers, rather than the bean counters for once. If Buick fell off the face if the earth tomorrow, only available to the communists,-did anyone forget China was a communist country, no one would miss it for a second. Except maybe the GN and GS guys. Meanwhile, Pontiac has been gone for a decade and the following is growing everyday. Even the Holden-built GTO and G8 are enjoying a cult collector status. Let Buick fade into automotive history, let Beijing have it. Put all of that money, R&D and factory space, not to mention UAW jobs to work on a revitalized excitement division, with all the iconic names brought back, Firebird, Trans Am, GTO, Grand Prix, Solstice, G8/Bonneville, only now with top notch build quality and high-tech features, like GM has bestowed upon Chevrolet and of course Cadillac. The reception would be astronomical, the cars would sell like hot cakes and America would have some of it’s greatest cars back on the road. Maybe even a hybrid Solstice or fully electric Firebird model.
Makes sense huh.
GM can spend more money doing nothing than any other company. How about an old fashioned market study?
Great car,I would get people constantly asking who makes it!
“It’s a Buick” they would say!
Really disappointed they are discontinuing!
Don’t knock it unless you’ve driven one!