LaCrosse: The Buick we finally would rather have
USA Today Drive On Blog
June 15, 2010
By Chris Woodyard
A big comfortable sedan with ample power and nimble handling, a blow-away great interior and a price tag that seems about $8,000 less than you'd expect to pay.
That's the Buick LaCrosse, which Drive On finally took for a spin even though it's been out for months. Why haven't we paid much attention before? Because it's a Buick.
LaCrosse seems impressive because it comes from a brand that makes you think of your father, or your father's father. But it is getting discovered. LaCrosse sales were up 212% last month from a year ago on the strength of the new model. For Buick executives, the challenge is just to get potential customers in the car.
"The product is the great proof point," says Roger McCormick, Buick's chief marketing guy, adding, "once people spend time in the car."
One victory: the percentage of customers coming to the brand are arriving from trade-ins from other brands, including imports he says. It's used to be 22%; now it's closer to 50%.
Though the starting price of a LaCrosse is around $26,000, McCormick says the average price of the LaCrosse leaving showrooms is around $32,000, an increase over the model it replaces. The one that Drive On tested was $37,280, and it had about every modern convenience and gee-whiz feature that you could pack into a car.
Buick is about to shift its marketing focus to the smaller Regal, but if you really want to see what's going to happen to this brand, keep your eyes on LaCrosse.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010
Chrysler is Now Recalling Cars for Pedal Issues
From Automotive News Online Today.
Chrysler recalls more than 25,000 vehicles with CTS pedals
Automotive News
June 4, 2010 - 2:46 pm EST
DETROIT (Reuters) -- Chrysler Group is recalling more than 25,000 Dodge Caliber and Jeep Compass vehicles to address the risk that accelerator pedals could become stuck and cause unintended acceleration, the automaker said today.
The recall comes five weeks after U.S. safety regulators opened an investigation into potentially sticky accelerator pedals in Chrysler vehicles, based on five consumer complaints.
Chrysler said in a filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that some of its 2007 model-year Caliber and Compass vehicles, manufactured between March and May of 2006, might have been equipped with faulty accelerator pedals.
CTS Corp. made the pedals involved in the recall. Elkhart, Ind.-based CTS is also the supplier of pedals involved in Toyota Motor Corp.'s January recall of more than 2 million vehicles.
Chrysler said the accelerator pedal for the Caliber and Compass vehicles is a "completely different" design and manufactured with different tooling than the pedals involved in Toyota's recall.
Chrysler also said its recalled vehicles are equipped with a brake override system, which allows the engine controller to reduce power and stop the car when both the brake and the accelerator are depressed.
Chrysler recalls more than 25,000 vehicles with CTS pedals
Automotive News
June 4, 2010 - 2:46 pm EST
DETROIT (Reuters) -- Chrysler Group is recalling more than 25,000 Dodge Caliber and Jeep Compass vehicles to address the risk that accelerator pedals could become stuck and cause unintended acceleration, the automaker said today.
The recall comes five weeks after U.S. safety regulators opened an investigation into potentially sticky accelerator pedals in Chrysler vehicles, based on five consumer complaints.
Chrysler said in a filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that some of its 2007 model-year Caliber and Compass vehicles, manufactured between March and May of 2006, might have been equipped with faulty accelerator pedals.
CTS Corp. made the pedals involved in the recall. Elkhart, Ind.-based CTS is also the supplier of pedals involved in Toyota Motor Corp.'s January recall of more than 2 million vehicles.
Chrysler said the accelerator pedal for the Caliber and Compass vehicles is a "completely different" design and manufactured with different tooling than the pedals involved in Toyota's recall.
Chrysler also said its recalled vehicles are equipped with a brake override system, which allows the engine controller to reduce power and stop the car when both the brake and the accelerator are depressed.
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