Only four cylinder engines and the highest trim level to start for the German Regal.
North American production of the all-new 2011 Buick Regal will start at the Oshawa Car Assembly plant beginning in Ontario during the first quarter of 2011.
Until then, a rebadged and recalibrated version of the Opel Insignia will be imported from Rüsselsheim, Germany starting in the second quarter of 2010.
The status of all Opel plants is uncertain today. GM continues to seek financing from European governments and concessions from union members for its loss-making subsidiary after its surprise decision not to sell Opel to Magna earlier this month.
GM maintains that it will keep the German plants open after large cutbacks in the workforce. An Opel plant in Belgium appears to be slated for closing under the latest plan. Almost $5 billion is thought to be required to restructure Opel and GM is only prepared (or able?) to front about 15% of that.
A Buick version of the car is already in production in China since last December, but GM says it has no plans to import Regal from the far east.
That could change quickly if Opel collapses, of course. GM reported a $1.2 billion loss in its latest quarter, the first one since it emerged from bankruptcy this past July. It is unclear if GM can continue to carry Opel for very long without billions of dollars in government assistance. The private credit markets are unlikely to advance the ailing company any money without the government loan guarantees GM has been seeking.
The Regal is a mid-size sport sedan based on the award-winning Opel Insignia – the 2009 European Car of the Year. Whether such attributes can return potential buyers to North American showrooms where Buick is struggling remains to be seen. Year-to-date, U.S. Buick sales are down 33% in a market that is off 24%. It is ironic that the brand long associated with Flint, Michigan, is now stronger in China than its home country.
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“The new Regal gives Buick a modern performance sedan and its production here in Oshawa is terrific news for our employees, the CAW, dealers and suppliers,” says Arturo Elias, president, General Motors of Canada.
A Regal CSX sport model with an optional 2-liter, direct injected four-cylinder engine, which is said to provide more power than Japanese V6 engines in competitors, is under development. Preliminary ratings of 220 horsepower (164 kW) and 258 pound-feet of torque should make this CSX, a mid-seven-second zero-to-6o mph car. The 2.0L turbo uses a twin-scroll turbocharger that is said to build power quickly at lower engine speeds.
Colbie Callait performs at the Hollywood Palladium during the reveal of the 2011 Buick Regal.
It’s a shame that this turbo option will not appear until late-summer 2010.
In the interim, there’s the standard 2.4-liter engine — the same engine offered in the Buick LaCrosse, which provides 182 horsepower and 172 pound-feet of torque. This should make the naturally aspirated CSX a mid-eight-second sprinter zero-to-60 mph, and return more than 20 mpg on the EPA city cycle, 30 mpg highway.
The Oshawa Car Plant has been running at maximum overtime since June 2009 to keep up with demand for the Chevrolet Camaro. Production of the Camaro Convertible is also due to start there during the beginning of 2011.
Under the terms of the loan agreements with Canadian taxpayers, GM still needs to name another vehicle that will be built in Canada. GM says this will come at an unspecified future date.