Opel Ampera to become a Buick in the US?
Would an American Volt-based Buick make sense?
In all likelihood, the Chevrolet Volt‘s price tag will probably stick north of $30,000 for some time. Similarly sized cars in this same price range are typically in the luxury segment, including other green offerings such as the Lexus CT 200h. Consequently, many auto critics have wondered why GM didn’t begin the Volt’s life as a Cadillac.
GM has responded that Chevrolet is the most iconic GM brand, duh.
Nevertheless, in China – possibly GM’s most important market – Buick is the marquee GM brand and we’ve know that a Buick Volt has been planned for China for some time. Now we might know when.
According to Bloomberg, the new Buick Volt based off the Opel Ampera is heading into production as a 2013 or 2014 model, although sales would begin in 2013.
Unfortunately, GM is neither confirming nor denying this report. Moreover, GM has still not suggested whether this new Volt-like Buick plug-in hybrid would even be sold in the US. When plans for this Buick Volt were announced last summer, the Chinese market was the only market specifically mentioned by GM.
On the other hand, the Buick brand now seems to have some serious momentum in the US, so a Buick Volt seems to make some sense, but could a Buick Volt be rebadged enough to mean anything? That still seems to be the question.
Perhaps more interesting, back in June a late 2011 Chinese launch date seemed plausible. Does a push-back to 2013 mean the Chinese market isn’t going to be as receptive to plug-ins as quickly as was previously assumed?