Late last week rumors surfaced (for the second time in a year) that Chevrolet is prepping a coupe variant of the new Cruze compact sedan. While we hate to be the bearers of bad news, we can confidently say that there is no Cruze Coupe in the product plans. There is, however, a two-door (err...three?) GM compact car in the plans for North America.
As other mainstream outlets have reported, Buick is currently slated to receive the Opel Astra GTC. The GTC is Opel’s upcoming three-door hatchback with an arguably sexy new design that fits well with Buick’s new theme. The all-new Buick Astra GTC will launch in Europe next year.
Buick’s variant of the Astra GTC is currently slated to launch almost exactly two years from now as a 2014 model. GM is pulling an old recipe out of the box for this one as the new Buick is slated to be imported from Europe. This will mark Buick’s second European import after the Regal. As of now, GMI has not been told the name of the new car or if it will simply where the Verano badge.
As product plans stand today, only the three-door hatchback is slated for Buick. That does not mean more body styles, including a convertible, will not happen. It just means that as of today, they are not planned. We want to caution that GM import plans often change a lot during development.
While this may be an old recipe, we don’t expect the Buick to fall victim to the dismal sales that plagued the Saturn Astra. The new Opel Astra utilizes the same GM electronics system that is utilized in North America. The new globally focused GM product development has provided a new Astra that is much more adaptable to the unique attributes of the North American market than it’s predecessor.
At this point it is still too early to tell which engines will power the new Buick, though we wouldn’t be surprised to see a repeat of the Verano’s 2.4-liter and 2.0-liter Turbo four-cylinder engines.
source : GM Inside News
