Now that General Motors has taken the decision to trim down its passenger car portfolio with the sale of the Saturn and Saab brands as well as the demise of Pontiac in 2010, there seems to be plenty of space for Buick to expand in new vehicle segments that would otherwise be considered a 'no-no'. How else would you explain this new Buick small sedan prototype that was caught by our spy photographers testing in Germany?
The answer to the question could be that the small Buick sedan is destined exclusively for the Chinese market where the American brand is quite popular. Still, we're pretty sure that Buick's U.S. dealers wouldn't mind adding a smaller and more fuel-efficient sedan in their arsenal, especially now that American consumer tastes are slowly shifting towards more compact and frugal vehicles.
But while at this point GM's full intentions on the small Buick sedan remain a mystery, what is certain is that the saloon is based on the same Delta II platform as the new Chevrolet Cruze and next-generation Opel Astra that will be revealed this fall at the Frankfurt Auto Show.
This means that it will be roughly the same size as the Cruze sharing the same engine options that will include numerous four-cylinder diesel and gasoline units, the later in both naturally-aspirated and turbocharged forms.
But will this be enough for the small Buick sedan to be successful? Maybe in China, but in order for the car to make it in the U.S. and justify a higher price tag than its Chevrolet stablemate, GM will have to think out of the box and forget about its effortless badge-engineering techniques of the past.
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