January 18. 2012
Smart. Mercedes-Benz has just instituted a $99/month lease for its Smart brand. How long before you get a Smart car thrown in for free when you lease a new E Class? The Oblivion Express has just left the station, folks. Smart will go belly-up in this market within eighteen months if not sooner.
Fiat Dealers. The rumored 5-door hatchback version of the Fiat 500 - sort of an Italian-flavored Mini Countryman - will be shown at the Geneva Auto Show in the spring. That's the good news for U.S. Fiat dealers. The bad news? It won't see the light of day here until the summer of 2013, at the earliest.
Porsche. Matthias Müller, Porsche's CEO, told WirtschaftsWoche, a German publication, that the company would put plans for a small mid-engine sports car entry that would come to market below the Boxster on hold. “Possibly we need to wait until the next generation of customers before the idea of a small roadster will work for Porsche,” he told the magazine. The entry level Porsche would have been jointly developed with Audi and Volkswagen. Good move. We get Porsche's more models = more money formula, but it's nice to see a modicum of restraint being displayed for a change. Besides, we view the words "jointly developed with Audi and Volkswagen" as being potentially ominous. Memo to Porsche: Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
Editor's Note: Our East Coast correspondent, A. J. Morning, sent along his photos from the Detroit Auto Show media days. Click here to see them. - WG
Editor-in-Chief's Note: This week our "quick take" involves a tale of two Buicks. On the one hand we drove the new Buick Regal GS Turbo, which represents the "new" Buick, or at least the Buick that certain people down at the RenCen want it to be. On the other we drove the Buick LaCrosse with E-assist, a Buick more in line with what most people perceive Buick to be. First the Opel-infused high-performance Regal Turbo. Yes, I liked it a lot and the engine is indeed impressive. And the steering, braking and overall handling make it feel like a German car in just about every respect. But the obvious, multi-million-dollar question is will the Regal GS attract enthusiast buyers looking at entry-level BMWs? With those with an open mind, it's possible, maybe. But for most it won't, which is a shame. The Regal GS Turbo is an impressive package with real presence on the road, but unless Buick accomplishes a transformation that instantly erases decades of image build-up, I'm afraid this excellent machine will get lost in translation. As for the Lacrosse with E-assist, this car is everything a contemporary Buick should be, or at least it's the Buick that most consumers will accept. The LaCrosse design has worn well and it still looks very fresh, and the machine's impressive silence at cruising speeds is almost eerie. The LaCrosse comes with a full boatload of luxury features, of course, as well it should be, and it goes about its business with a serenity that belies its price tag. And the E-assist function works seamlessly. Which is the Buick that I prefer? It doesn't really matter, at least according to Buick operatives, because they're insistent that the "new" Buick will be more like the Regal GS Turbo and less like the LaCrosse. But frankly the real Buick is every bit the LaCrosse and more vehicles like it, hopefully. Though the Regal GS Turbo is a delightfully surprising high-performance package, it seems to exist on its own little island called Disconnect. An island that won't see Buick executives through to the Promised Land and the kind of sales numbers they're aching for. - PMD
2012 Buick Regal GS - $38,650 ($34,450 Base Price; White Diamond Tricoat, $495; Ebony with Piano Black accented interior; ECOTEC DOHC 2.0-liter HO turbocharged engine with 270HP and 6-speed manual gearbox; AM/FM stereo with CD, MP3 playback and NAV with 7" color touch screen display, $1,145; Power sunroof, $1,000; 20" polished alloy wheels, $700; Destination charge, $860.00)
2012 Buick LaCrosse Premium I Group - $36,685 ($32,440 Base Price; Quicksilver Metallic with Ebony interior; Entertainment Package - AM/FM/XM Stereo, CD, Harmon/Kardon 384-watt 11-speaker system, 120 volt power outlet - $600; Driver Convenience Package - High intensity discharge headlamps with adaptive forward lighting, Side blind zone alert, Head up display - $1,440; Audio system with NAV and backup camera, $1,345; Destination charge, $860.00)
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