Sunrise or sunset for a 100-year-old brand? It will likely depend on the success of the 2010 Buick LaCrosse, the struggling brand's new midsize sedan.
Sometimes you have to go to Hell and back to put a car through its paces. Hell, Michigan, in this case, a damned cute little town about an hour west of Detroit, where we could test the mettel of the 2010 Buick LaCrosse.
If the name of this new sedan brings a sense of déjà vu, well, think again. As we discovered during our drive, this is a very different car than the old LaCrosse, and it suggests that Buick, one of the four surviving marques at a post-bankruptcy General Motors, is becoming a very different brand.
Long and low, with a muscular hood and a surprisingly short trunk lid, the 2010 midsize entry was inspired by the Invicta and Riviera show cars, both of which first debuted behind the old Bamboo Curtain. While Buick continues to struggle here in the States, it is one of the most popular brands in China, and the designs developed for that surprisingly picky market will strongly influence the products the brand rolls out here, going forward.
As part of its American turnaround, Buick is moving a bit more up-market, but rather than becoming another Cadillac, the GM brand has taken aim at the Japanese luxury brand Lexus – which, in many ways, has become what Buick might have been. That means stylish, but not necessarily cutting edge design, plenty of high-tech features, and driving characteristics that are dynamic, but put a bit more emphasis on comfort than performance.
The 2010 Buick LaCrosse takes aim at the Lexus ES as its primary competitor.
That, at least, is the new Buick philosophy, and LaCrosse has it pretty well nailed. The question is whether product alone is enough. Of all the surviving Big Three marques, perhaps none has lost more of the Boomers and younger buyers needed to survive than Buick, so the success of the 2010 LaCrosse will be critical not only to the century-old brand but to General Motors itself.
While China played a significant role in the development of the 2010 Buick LaCrosse, the sedan is actually an international effort. Design was handled in China, platform engineering in Europe and vehicle integration was overseen at the General Motors Technical Center, in Detroit.
The trademark Buick waterfall grille is still there, and so are the brand’s classic portholes, though with the remade LaCrosse, they’ve been moved from the front fenders to the crease between the quarter panels and the hood. The car’s dimensions will seem similar, though the new LaCrosse actually has gained an extra 1.5 inches in its wheelbase, and shed an inch overall. That wheels-to-the-corners approach not only gives the car a more athletic appearance but improves overall ride.
Some things never change, and – like its Japanese luxury rival, Lexus – Buick continues to focus on the sort of classic creature comforts that once made it one of the most popular brands on the market. That starts with interior noise levels that can best be described as tomb-like, thanks to the latest “Quiet Tuning” technology, which includes acoustic laminated glass, triple-sealed doors and specially designed the suspension bushings, engine cradle and mounts, and steering and induction systems.
The 2010 Buick LaCrosse was heavily influenced by the Chinese-designed Invicta and Park Avenue concept cars.
A quiet interior is great, but all too many Buick products, in recent years, offset that advantage with the use of cheap plastic parts that look like they’d been sourced from the local Dollar Store. So, for many potential customers, the 2010 LaCrosse cabin will come as a delightful surprise. It’s refined, attractive and well executed.
That’s no surprise, since the Chinese version of LaCrosse appeals to one of the most demanding segments in that market. The trio of ice blue-backlit gauges are decidedly upscale, as is the use of double-seam stitching and a reasonably convincing fake wood. Our test car also features a user-friendly technology package, including such niceties as a Bluetooth hands-free phone system and Navi, all of which proved unexpectedly easy to program. And, yes, there’s also the GM-mandated OnStar system.
Buick is offering the 2010 LaCrosse with a trio of powertrain choices, all of them paired with a 6-speed automatic transmission. The base engine is a mileage-minded 2.4-liter inline-four, which delivers an acceptable 182 horsepower – and 20 mpg City/30 Highway, according to the EPA. A step up and you’ll get the 3.0-liter V-6 which gets you 252 hp in all-wheel-drive trim and 255 hp for the front-driver.
The 2010 Buick LaCrosse is being offered with a trio of engines, including the inline-four, which delivers 20 mpg City/30 Highway.
For some real fun, consider the 280-hp 3.6-liter V-6. Though it doesn’t have quite the level of refinement of the comparable 3.5-liter engine in the Lexus ES350, it makes up for that in driving dynamics – all the more so when you switch to Sport Mode, which notably reduces body roll. You’ll be quick to forgive the fact that at around 7.5 seconds, 0 to 60, the Buick is about a second slower than its Asian competitor.
The only time the Quiet Tuning system fell short was on some particularly torn-up sections of road in, appropriately, Hell, Michigan, where we experienced some unexpected boominess in the cabin.
On the whole, the 2010 Buick LaCrosse rides a lot like the Lexus, which means it will soak up all but the worst of potholes and expansion joints. You do sacrifice a little in terms of steering refinement and road feel but, hey, they aren’t targeting BMW with this midsize sedan.
If you spend any time watching TV you’ll undoubtedly run into the latest GM ads, which directly compare products like the LaCrosse to their key competitors. Pointing to Lexus might have been an exercise in futility, at least until recently, but the 2010 Buick LaCrosse can readily boast about its benchmark-level fit-and-finish, with some of the tightest sheet metal gaps in the industry. Particularly impressive has been Buick’s phoenix-like rise in quality. The brand pulled off quite a coup, in the most recent J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study, by posting reliability data than Lexus.
The interior of the 2010 Buick LaCrosse is a big step up from the plasticky cabins of recent past.
But will that translate into sales? Buick is paying the price for decades of mediocrity. There are plenty of potential customers who wouldn’t pay attention to the brand even if its products were offered at half price (and Buick came close with some of the hefty incentives it offered in recent years).
If you’re one of those nay-sayers, it’s worth thinking twice. The Buick Enclave has shown its possible to attract a younger buyer than the nearly-dead owners who make up the brand’s core. And if GM can get the message out, LaCrosse could take things another big step forward.
No, a Buick may not carry quite the cache when you pull up to the country club but, then again, recent problems at Lexus could wind up tarnishing its image, as well.
The big question is whether Buick can draw the attention of import-oriented buyers who've never had the domestic brand on their shopping lists.
The 2010 Buick LaCrosse is a sedan seriously worth considering if you’re in the midsize market. It’s stylish, comfortable and well-built. And it just may lead you to rethink what the Buick brand is all about. That would be a hell of a turnaround