GM Reveals 2018 Buick Regal Sportback/TourX

[shaffe]

Those fender flares are freaking horrible. What in the hell were they thinking

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by shaffe

Those fender flares are freaking horrible. What in the hell were they thinking

I can almost guarantee you that the thought is people like crossovers and don't like wagons. Therefore, make your wagon look like a crossover and people will like it.

[FenwickHockey65]

It is. Reuss talked about crossovers during the entire reveal.

[hotlap]

The cladding ruins it. Honda initially introduced the Crosstour without cladding and then later added. Its unfortunate that North American buyers can't appreciate a classy looking, sporty wagon.

[FenwickHockey65]

By the way, if sedans are officially out, but hatches and pseudo-crossovers are in for Buick, and since the Verano sedan is dead and Buick no longer has a compact...

[Mr Twisty]

Trash the wagon flares, drop it, add decent wheels, limo windows, i'd hit it

.... but I'm old, what do I know.

I know this Regal looks pretty good. The wagon would look good with that stance

[One Sick Camaro]

Make a grand national already. Why are people so into these underpowered nonsense cars lol.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by One Sick Camaro

Make a grand national already. Why are people so into these underpowered nonsense cars lol.

Because people aren't into overpowered nonsense cars.

Sorry if the truth hurts.

[hotlap]

Originally Posted by Mr Twisty

Trash the wagon flares, drop it, add decent wheels, limo windows, i'd hit it

.... but I'm old, what do I know.

I know this Regal looks pretty good. The wagon would look good with that stance

I'd like an affordable wagon for my wife that doesn't have Aztec cartoon cladding slapped on the side. Making it look like an Outback guarantees it will fail because it doesn't have the other elements. A sporty, mid market wagon might find a niche. The Euro version looks nice. Its a Buick. What is the Buick brand image? Mid market luxury!

[5thGenOwner]

First impression... it's going to be mistaken for an Audi/VW. Good luck GM.

I'm really getting sick of how homogenized the car industry is becoming. Eventually to get something original, you'll need to build it yourself.

[shaffe]

Originally Posted by DGthe3

I can almost guarantee you that the thought is people like crossovers and don't like wagons. Therefore, make your wagon look like a crossover and people will like it.

But the flares dont make it look like a crossover though, they look like sometacked on dealer accessory package. The car still sits low like a wagon bc it is a wagon.

[DGthe3]

Originally Posted by shaffe

But the flares dont make it look like a crossover though, they look like sometacked on dealer accessory package. The car still sits low like a wagon bc it is a wagon.

No it doesn't look like a crossover. It looks like they're trying to disguise a wagon as a crossover. Why? The average buyer LOVES crossovers and HATES wagons. None of it makes any sense, but since when did the world have to make sense?

Crossovers often have those plastic fender flares. It makes them look 'tough' and 'rugged' (or at least thats the intent, I don't think its possible to make a Trax look tough). Ditto for the plastic rocker guards. Roof rails are also common on crossovers too but a lot less common on wagons & hatchbacks. And it doesn't sit low like a wagon should, they raised the ride height over the sedan.

One of those things? Designers choice. Two? Probably not a coincidence. But 4? Its done very deliberately to give it some crossover design elements. No, people aren't going to mistake it for a crossover. But that doesn't mean that they weren't specifically trying to graft crossover elements onto a wagon.

[shaffe]

When I think crossover I think something like the Ford Edge or the way they have the Acadia now.

[DRKS1D3]

It is ultimately a tedious, balancing act of not over-stepping boundaries between Chevy and Buick. This is how GM got into trouble the last time. They had all of these brands overlapping each other and essentially, the company was competing against themselves as well as other brands. GM made so many models where they simply swapped badges. For example, the Cobalt and Pontiac G5.

I can't give any advice, but Buick needs to stand apart, obviously in between Chevy and Cadillac. Seeing these new models (hatchbacks on a sedan body and a wagon)...this doesn't seem promising. IMHO, they are missing the mark. These two vehicles bring back memories of potentially the most embarrassing GM vehicle, besides the Pontiac Aztek...the Chevy Malibu Max. And yes, they even made an "SS" variant of it.