China To Get A RWD Buick (Rebadged Holden Statesman)
11-16-2005 | 02:15 PM
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From: Palolo Valley HI, or Whitter SoCal
China To Get A RWD Buick (Rebadged Holden Statesman) http://royaum.buick.com.cn/home.aspx
Now this car may not seem like much, but keep reading to learn about its fire breathing cousin that could have very well been sold here as a Buick if GM brass had any brains. It's called the Buick Royaum and yes, it's somewhat plebian looking, but then again what Buick these days isn't. At least this one is RWD and offers GMs DOHC 3.6L HF V6. The Royaum has been heavily decontented from its Holden counterpart. Following the 3.6L model, only a 2.8L model will be offered whereas when the car was sold in Oz as the Statesman, it was available with a Gen III LS1. Yes in Royaum trim this car is very pedestrian looking, but check out the HSV Grange. http://www.hsv.com.au/cars/vz/main.a...in/grange.html Gen IV LS2 under the hood. Hell even the LED rear tailights look pretty slick. I'm pretty sure the majority of the people here would prefer that to the FWD Buick Lucerne. The Statesman was sold in the Middle East as the Chevrolet Caprice. Yet again, America is fucked over while the other markets get the better GM products. I've known for almost a decade that the Middle East, Oz and Europe got the good stuff, but Christ, even China is getting a decent GM product now. Yes GM is in fact milking the VK (LWB Commodore platform which underpins the Stateman/Caprice/Royaum) platform when you consider that Zeta (codenamed VE in Oz) is being readied to replace the VZ and VK series cars but still. I'd rather have a VK based Buick, than G-Body based Lucerne.
I thought GM finally heard my rant back in '04 when they brought the GTO over. Apparently they didn't listen to everything I had to say and decided that either finding a way to get the Commodore, Maloo and Statemen to the US market would be a bad idea. Either that or they don't have the means to do it. At least they're finally bring their Opel/Vauxhall lineup over as Saturns. Any idiot with a brain could have told you that replacing Oldsmobiles lineup with GMs Opel/Vauxhall lineup could have potentially saved the brand.
Now this car may not seem like much, but keep reading to learn about its fire breathing cousin that could have very well been sold here as a Buick if GM brass had any brains. It's called the Buick Royaum and yes, it's somewhat plebian looking, but then again what Buick these days isn't. At least this one is RWD and offers GMs DOHC 3.6L HF V6. The Royaum has been heavily decontented from its Holden counterpart. Following the 3.6L model, only a 2.8L model will be offered whereas when the car was sold in Oz as the Statesman, it was available with a Gen III LS1. Yes in Royaum trim this car is very pedestrian looking, but check out the HSV Grange. http://www.hsv.com.au/cars/vz/main.a...in/grange.html Gen IV LS2 under the hood. Hell even the LED rear tailights look pretty slick. I'm pretty sure the majority of the people here would prefer that to the FWD Buick Lucerne. The Statesman was sold in the Middle East as the Chevrolet Caprice. Yet again, America is fucked over while the other markets get the better GM products. I've known for almost a decade that the Middle East, Oz and Europe got the good stuff, but Christ, even China is getting a decent GM product now. Yes GM is in fact milking the VK (LWB Commodore platform which underpins the Stateman/Caprice/Royaum) platform when you consider that Zeta (codenamed VE in Oz) is being readied to replace the VZ and VK series cars but still. I'd rather have a VK based Buick, than G-Body based Lucerne.
I thought GM finally heard my rant back in '04 when they brought the GTO over. Apparently they didn't listen to everything I had to say and decided that either finding a way to get the Commodore, Maloo and Statemen to the US market would be a bad idea. Either that or they don't have the means to do it. At least they're finally bring their Opel/Vauxhall lineup over as Saturns. Any idiot with a brain could have told you that replacing Oldsmobiles lineup with GMs Opel/Vauxhall lineup could have potentially saved the brand.
Last edited by bruddah_man_matt; 11-16-2005 at 02:23 PM.
