Reference Auto

GM is giving the Buick brand a major facelift in its bid to target the youth with the unveiling of the 2012 Verano at the Detroit Auto Show next week. Accordingly, the company will target luxury car buffs scouting for a car smaller than the Regal sedan, which was launched recently.

Moreover, the American market is gradually witnessing a shift towards smaller cars or in other words cars that will be more fuel efficient.

So, this move by Buick to trim its car design could actually see prospective car buyers, especially the younger lot, evince interest in its car. The Verano is slated to hit the US roads in the last quarter of the year. But GM’s Buick division will have to do much more to cater to this new-found fad in the American market, which traditionally preferred bulky cars.

GM will have to roll out a litany of similar models that are compact to see its Buick brand gaining ground. Moreover, there will also have to be a mega marketing push as the market for compact cars is yet to mature in the US.

The Verano is a small car similar to the Chevrolet Cruze, and according to GM, it will have to slug it out with the likes of the Audi A3 and Volvo S40 in the entry-level luxury market.

The Verano will have a 2.4-lt four-cylinder engine with a six-speed automatic transmission. The engine power is about 177 hp and the car can zoom from 0 to 60 mph in just eight seconds.

A turbocharged 2-lt engine will be launched at a later stage and is likely to have 250 hp. The Verano is expected to carry a price tag of around $22,000.

Its soft cabin appears to be splendid and could match that of its rivals. Soft-touch materials are used throughout the cabin, while rich wood and aluminum accents make the center console and door panels.

The Verano, to be manufactured at the Orion plant near Detroit, is the US version of the Buick Excelle, which has found many takers in China.

The slew of features on offer is interesting. The Verano comes with 10 air bags as standard equipment and has a fabulous sound insulation to pave the way for an almost noiseless drive.

There is also a heated steering wheel, heated front seats, dual-zone automatic climate control mechanism, a Bose audio system, Bluetooth connectivity along with a push-button start.

The car has OnStar’s next-generation technology, which along with a driver’s smartphone can read text messages aloud and there is an interface with apps like Pandora and Stitcher.

Buick has seen sales surge by over 50 per cent, mainly on the back of refurbished models like the LaCrosse and Regal. GM, in the last few years, was rolling out cars with minor cosmetic changes. It, therefore, probably ended the year with a sales rise of only 7 per cent in the US.

Buick had mainly attracted traditional customers (above the age of 60) in the US as it had not come up with compact vehicles and its cars were not feature-rich. But all that will change with the Verano launch and GM hopes that this move to reach out to the youth will give a further fillip to its sales growth.