General Motors Co’s (GM) Buick Motor Division, seeking to shed its image as a maker of big sedans for retirees, is introducing a convertible called the Cascada in the US.
GM was set to reveal the full-sized convertible — its first in 25 years — yesterday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan.
The vehicle is positioned as a lower-priced competitor to Volkswagen AG’s Audi A5, Buick vice president Duncan Aldred said.
Photo: Reuters
While Buick has not disclosed the model’s price, the Audi A5 starts at about US$40,000.
Buick sees the Cascada as part of an effort to replace a staid image with something more modern, even though it anticipates lower sales volume given the type of vehicle, Aldred said.
“It’s designed to generate excitement for the brand,” Aldred said in an interview. “Our advertising has challenged the old perception of what people think the Buick brand is. That gives us an opportunity to bring in a car that can act as a halo to the brand.”
The Cascada, Buick’s first convertible since its Reatta in the late 1980s, seats four people and comes with a 200-horsepower turbocharged engine and a Wi-Fi hotspot.
As a so-called “2+2 seater,” the car has two small rear seats, making it more of a “fun” purchase than a practical vehicle.
Aldred declined to say whether Buick plans to sell the car in China, where the brand sold 919,582 cars last year — a gain of 13.5 percent, according to a GM statement.
Buick sales grew 11.4 percent in the US to 228,963 cars and the brand sold 1.2 million vehicles globally last year.
Meanwhile, GM plans to introduce an all-new electric car, the Chevrolet Bolt, that is to be able to drive about 322km on a charge when it goes on sale in 2017, a person familiar with the matter said.
It would also be the first purely electric car that GM has made since the EV1, which was leased to consumers from 1996 to 1999.
The Bolt and upgraded Volt show that GM is pushing the development of electric cars and hybrid technology, even as gasoline prices fall below US$2 a gallon (US$0.53 per liter) in some parts of the US.
US sales of hybrids and electric cars took a hit last year as gas prices fell. However, with more stringent US federal fuel economy rules on the horizon, automakers are still under pressure to make their vehicles more efficient.
In a roundtable with reporters on Thursday last week, GM chief executive Mary Barra said the company has not changed its strategy and will continue to develop technology regardless of fuel prices.
At this year’s auto show, Audi is to show off a plug-in hybrid version of its Q7 SUV, which mates an electric battery to a diesel engine. Hyundai is expected to reveal hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions of its Sonata sedan. Even Acura’s new NSX supercar is to get a power boost from its hybrid engine.
The show is set to open to the media today at the Cobo Center in Detroit. The public show is to open on Saturday and run through Jan. 25.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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