2010 Buick Cxl W/1xl on 2040-cars

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The new Opel Insignia might be a great Buick, but it's a sad Holden Commodore

Since the first shots of the uncovered Opel Insignia hit our inboxes, we've been filled with excitement for the new sedan. It looks great, it should come to America with little to no visual changes as the Buick Regal, and we might even get a wagon version. Unfortunately, there's a lead lining to this silver cloud, and it comes to us from Down Under. You see, the Opel Insignia is also undergoing a re-badging job in Australia to become the new Holden Commodore. It's replacing the beloved rear-drive Commodore (with an optional V8 and ultra-high performance HSV variants) with a front-drive-based platform offering four- or six-cylinder engines. This is depressing news considering the Zeta-platform underpinning the Commodore VF spawned the Pontiac G8, Chevrolet SS, and fifth-generation Camaro. Knowing this was going to happen doesn't help much either. What makes it all worse is that the new Commodore doesn't have a shred of unique styling in the bodywork. That's not an exaggeration. A new grille with a Holden lion badge instead of an Opel lightning bolt badge is the only change. See for yourself in the Insignia gallery below. Not only did GM erase a unique Australian model, it didn't even allow the brand to give the car a distinct shape. It's sort of like when Ford planned to replace the Mustang with the Mazda-derived Probe. The Probe wasn't that bad for the time, but it was no Mustang. At least in that case the Mustang survived. View 12 Photos Before we get ourselves too down, we should mention that there are reasons to be hopeful for the future. For one thing, the new all-wheel-drive Commodore/Insignias will come with a version of the GKN-developed rear differential found in the Focus RS and Range Rover Evoque, which is pretty neat on its own. And Opel/Vauxhall have always had wild performance versions of the Insignia and its Vectra predecessor. The last one made 325-horsepower and had all-wheel-drive. A new one would likely produce much more, since one of the available V6s makes 308 horsepower. Then imagine all of that extra hypothetical horsepower hooked up to the all-wheel-drive system that introduced us to "drift mode." Not only that, but rear-drive Holdens may not be completely dead yet. A Belgian man announced his intention to buy an old Holden factory along with the tooling and rights for the car once it was discontinued. His plan is to continue producing the old model after Holden is done with it.

2013 Opel Cascada

The Future Buick Verano Convertible?
I wasn't wearing a pedometer while in Germany covering the Frankfurt Motor Show this year, but it's safe to say I walked more than a few miles between press conferences, shooting cars and trekking back to the media center on the first day alone. For this reason, it didn't take much convincing from General Motors for me to duck out of the Messe a day early and drive some of its latest Opel models. No, this didn't include the all-new Country Tourer, but I was able to drive the Opel Mokka (our Buick Encore), the Opel Adam and the Opel Cascada.
I focused most of my driving time behind the wheel of the Cascada, which went on sale in Europe earlier this year, since rumors are swirling that a Buick version of this convertible "could happen soon." Buick hasn't had a convertible since the Reatta, and GM has been lacking a non-performance, budget-minded convertible since the Pontiac brand - and its G6 - was dropped, so adding the Cascada to Buick showrooms could further help the reemerging brand compete in the near-luxury segment. Although the weather was too chilly (and occasionally rainy) to enjoy the Cascada with its top down for very long, I was able to clock a fair bit of drive time behind the wheel on roads ranging from the autobahn to tight roads in small, quaint villages.

Updated Buick LaCrosse, Regal to debut at New York Auto Show

Judging by the spy shots we saw last week for the 2014 Buick LaCrosse and 2014 Buick Regal, we knew it wouldn't be much longer until we saw both sedans receive a grand debut. Today, Buick confirmed to Autoblog both cars will be introduced at the New York Auto Show next month, but no further information has yet been released about either model.
Having been on the market for an extra couple years, the changes to the LaCrosse appear to be more significant than those coming for the Regal, but both will be getting refreshed exterior designs as well as updated interiors. The Regal's new face brings it more in line with the all-new Encore and the restyled Enclave, while the LaCrosse should get a more distinctive, upscale appearance.
Both cars will be introduced exactly a month from today, and we'll be there to bring you all the coverage.