About 5 or 6 years ago, as General Motors was on the front end of its rather tumultuous decline I remember seeing an article that talked about the average age of GM buyers across all of its brands. When I read it there were two statistics that jumped out at me more than the others. One had to do with the fact that of all their brands (Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Saturn, GMC, Saab, Hummer) only one had an average age under 30 (Chevrolet). The other was that the average age of Buick buyers was actually 62.
While there were many factors that lead to the demise and almost complete collapse of GM, clearly it seemed that one of them was that they were not appealing to younger purchasers, and in the case of Buick they were locked into a demographic that was largely made up of retirees who tended to want to keep their cars for a lot longer than those of younger demographic groups. So as GM began to purge divisions and concentrate its efforts on revamping its remaining brands, the big question of course is could they design and build cars that younger people wanted to buy?
From a broad based appeal perspective, Buick had the furthest distance to go. Part of GM’s attempt to revitalize the brand involved introducing an all new 5th generation version of the Buick Regal. The Regal has been around since 1973 but production of the 4th generation was halted after 2004. The new Regal is based upon the Opel Insignia, which is designed and sold in Europe. Initially though the Insignia was to be the basis for a new version of the Saturn Aura, but plans changed when GM decided to abandon the Saturn brand.
The Regal is built at GM’s Oshawa flex line assembly plant which also produces three popular Chevrolet models – the Camaro, Impala and Equinox. Given that I reside only about 20 minutes away from the Oshawa complex I was eager to take out the 2011 Buick Regal as part of the Enviro Dad Test Drive.
AT FIRST GLANCE
I was at the Canadian International Auto Show in early 2010 when General Motors first revealed the redesigned Regal. It was perhaps the first time I can remember seeing a new Buick and thinking to myself “Hey…nice looking car!” This new mid-sized sedan had elements of elegance and sportiness packaged together, which was something I had always found lacking with Buicks in the past.
That feeling continued when I picked up the Regal for my week long test. Sitting inside the car, I never had the feeling that this was a car destined for the Snowbird set. One could instantly see the elements of European styling that come from its Opel origins. Visually, there was a nice ergonomic flow to the cockpit. With each new GM designed car that I test, the painful memories of the atrocious dashboard and cockpit designs that GM used before begin to fade away.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The 2011 Buick Regal offers 2 different engines in its line-up. Standard on the Regal CXL is a 2.4 litre 4 cylinder direct-injected engine which offers 182 hp. Also available is a 2.0 litre 4 cylinder turbocharged and direct-injected engine which puts out an impressive 220 hp. A six speed automatic transmission is standard on the CXL and optional on the CXL Turbo. Standard on the CXL Turbo is a six speed manual transmission.
My tester was the CXL Turbo and I found it offered plenty of pep for any situation I would encounter. The Regal, like all of its Buick predecessors is a quiet vehicle to drive, but unlike its predecessors, the Regal offers handling that is tighter and more responsive. This is clearly designed to appeal to the younger driver who appreciates quality but also wants performance.
For those who like to customize their driver settings depending on the situation, the Regal CXL Turbo has an Interactive Driver Control feature which allows the driver to select between three driving modes – Standard, Tour and Sport. Each setting modifies things such as steering and suspension to provide a different set up and responsive feel. This is a great feature and one that I find is appearing on more and more vehicles across all manufacturers.
One design element that I didn’t like was the shape of the side view mirrors. There is a tapered effect that I suppose was meant to be more aesthetically and ergonomically pleasing that is narrower on top and wider at the bottom. While it may look good from the outside I found it somewhat challenging to use. I prefer as much reflective space as possible when looking at my mirrors and I’d rather take safety over design in this area any day.
THE GREEN FACTOR
GM has put a lot of emphasis in its marketing lately regarding how fuel efficient their new line up of vehicles are on the highway. The Regal is no exception as it’s ratings for both engines are quite efficient with highway driving. It’s good to focus on this since at the moment, its city ratings are not much to brag about.
The 2.4 litre CXL model offers a fuel rating of 10.8 L/100 km (city) and 6.5 L/100 km (hwy) or a combined rating of 8.8 L/100 km. The 2.0 litre CXL Turbo will get you 11.5 L/100 km (city) and 7.0 L/100 km (hwy) or 9.5 L/100 km combined. For those who view fuel economy as a priority, the Regal is a great choice in this segment if you do a lot of highway driving but if you are mostly a city driver, there are better eco friendly cars, such as hybrid models like the Ford Fusion Hybrid, or even non-hybrid mid-sized performance sedans like the 2011 Kia Optima which offer better city mileage than the Regal.
THE FAMILY FACTOR
The 2011 Regal is a mid sized sedan designed for a maximum of 5 occupants. With over 2700 litres of interior passenger volume, it’s roomy and comfortable enough to easily handle a family of 5. The room in the back will get tight if booster or child seats are added into the mix, but this is a common problem with most mid sized sedans.
My tester came equipped with rear seat back video monitors, which will be a very handy asset to have for longer drives with children in the back. The 9 speaker, 320 Watt harman/kardon sound system was good but not the best OEM system I’ve ever heard.
Rear trunk space on the 2011 Regal is set at 402 Litres (14.25 cubic feet) and offers sufficient room for a week’s worth of groceries, a couple sets of golf clubs or a hockey bag.
FOR THE TECHIES
The Regal offers the usual array of options for the techies in our midst. The GM satellite GPS navigation system is relatively easy to use. I appreciated how it could be accessed by GM’s OnStar representatives since I had trouble locating an address using the GPS alone. A simple push of the OnStar button allowed me to speak to a rep, who then was able to locate the address for me, and immediately download it to my car while en route.
Blue tooth, XM digital radio, heated seats and LED interior lighting added other elements that add to the youthful touches that GM has brought to their new Buick models.
SUMMARY
In order for GM to bring down substantially the average age of a Buick purchaser, the reality is that any new design they put out couldn’t be just as good as their competitors, but better. GM has decided that vehicles like the Acura TSX and the Volvo S60 are direct competitors for the Buick Regal. These popular and well built cars would pose a formidable challenge and would position the Regal at a target market that they have not any real success with for quite some time.
So have they been successful? Well since I’m writing you as an almost 42 year old male, I’d have to say that for the most part, the answer is yes. While I would like to see better fuel efficiency in the city and I think some of the aesthetic elements like the previously mentioned side-view mirrors and the fuel gauge should be tweaked, I walked away with the over-all sensation that I could indeed see myself driving this vehicle on a regular basis.
If for no other reason than appealing to a younger age group than they have been stuck to for so long, the 2011 Buick Regal is a solid new addition to a steadily improving overall General Motors line up.
BY THE NUMBERS (Out of 10)
LOOK/DESIGN – 8.0
DRIVE – 7.5
THE GREEN FACTOR – 6.0
THE FAMILY FACTOR – 8.0
TECHIE STUFF – 7.5
VALUE – 7.0
(MSRP as Tested $34,990)
OVERALL SCORE – 7.5
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