Buick lineup to get Chinese designed models

GM is planning to reposition Buick as an affordable luxury brand with the help of a host of new Chinese designed vehicles. China has quickly become Buick’s number one market globally and execs are hoping to mimic that success back home in the US by introducing a totally revamped lineup. The recently revealed Riviera concept car that starred at the Shanghai Auto Show was created at GM’s new design center in China and is said to reveal the new global look for Buick’s future models.

The first of these new models will be the small Excelle sedan due late next year, which will be based on GM’s Alpha platform currently being developed in Germany. This will be followed by the next-gen LaCrosse sedan in late 2009 being developed on GM’s Epsilon 2 vehicle architecture and should feature both FWD and AWD versions, according to Automotive News.

The Lucerne isn’t due for an update until 2011 and is expected to be developed on GM’s new RWD Zeta architecture. The first cars will be imported from GM’s Holden subsidiary in Australia with production eventually moving to the Oshawa site in Ontario. This year, Buick launched the Park Avenue sedan (pictured) in China, a LWB model developed and manufactured in Australia whose mechanicals will be shared with the next Lucerne.

Other models such as the Rainier, Rendezvous and Terraza will be discontinued after the current model year, being replaced by the new Enclave.