DETROIT General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz offered official word on Thursday that the Buick Invicta concept, which was unveiled last month at the 2008 Beijing Auto Show, foreshadows the look of the next-generation Buick LaCrosse. Writing in the GM FastLane corporate blog, Lutz said the Invicta "shows where Buick design is headed, both in China and North America, and gives you a strong hint at what the next-generation LaCrosse might look like."
Lutz's most recent GM FastLane posting seems to confirm the buzz on automotive blogs that a recently spotted Buick LaCrosse test mule looks similar to the show-stopping concept.
Lutz confirmed that "the next-generation LaCrosse will share an architecture with other midsize sedans from Chevrolet, Saab, Opel/Vauxhall and others.... But the key to the whole thing is it will be very hard to tell they share the same parentage if you didn't already know."
He underscored that "Invicta is symbolic of the progress we continue to make revamping GM Global Product Development and rolling out our global architecture programs.
"This is not 'badge engineering,'" Lutz insisted. "And it goes beyond 'common platform.' This is taking the parts of the vehicle that the customer doesn't see or come in contact with and commonizing them and then investing the savings in the sheet metal and the interiors and the other factors that differentiate the vehicles from brand to brand. Dimensions can change, such as length and width and cowl height. Suspension can be vastly different, changing the character and behavior of the vehicle, depending on brand. It's all plug and play, with markedly different cars coming from the same Lego set."
|
