Why the 2010 Buick LaCrosse Should Be North American Car of the Year

It seems these days that whenever General Motors enters a discussion you get responses from 2 main groups: those who absolutely love GM and those who absolutely hate GM. All I know is, whether you love GM or hate GM, if you have any passion for cars you should love the all new 2010 Buick LaCrosse.

As we all know, GM has always tried to position the Buick brand as a fighter of the family luxury segment, competing with the likes of Lexus, Acura, Infiniti, and Lincoln. And for the past decade it's fallen far short of that goal. Models such as the Buick Lucerne were merely adequate and always paled in comparison to anything out of Lexus or Acura. However, it seems that the GM is finally starting to take the Buick brand seriously. If the 2010 LaCrosse is a sign of things to come out of Buick, Lexus and other competitors will be big trouble. The new LaCrosse makes me want to ask GM one question, "What took so long?".

While many of the Buick competitors are more or less the result of badge engineering from Toyota and Honda models, the 2010 Buick LaCrosse is astoundingly unique. You can park a Lexus next to a Toyota and you'd be hard pressed to tell that they were different brands. However, if you were to park the new LaCrosse next to a Chevrolet Malibu or even a Cadillac CTS, you would never even begin to think they were made by the same manufacturer. Normally you would expect a car to win an award based on its technical specs such as interior refinement, power and driving characteristics, etc.

Rest assured, the new LaCrosse is the segment leader or at the top of its segment in all categories. I respect all the cars competing for the North American Car of the Year award. But I believe in this traumatic time for the auto industry, having the best specs or best selling car simply isn't enough. What should matter is how a car affects the overall market. And the new LaCrosse has the potential to completely reshape the entry-level luxury car market. It's a car that will inspire, or in some cases, force others to step up their game. And overall it will help push the entry-level luxury segment to a higher level altogether. Cars like this are a far and few. 

Unfortunately, we will have to wait a few months to gauge the the true impact of Buick's new car. But if initial response both from the media and from consumers is any sign, it will be a true game changer. This single car has already done more for the Buick brand than all the past Buick models of the past 2 decades combined. It's gotten younger generations interested in the Buick brand. It's made people remember that Buick is still in business. And it symbolizes the new direction for General Motors as a whole. No longer will GM sit on its back and release dismal product after dismal product.

The 2010 Buick LaCrosse is a perfect point of departure for GM's next 100 years. With all due respect to the Buick Enclave, the LaCrosse is the first true step into the next chapter of the great American story that is the Buick brand.