2010 Buick LaCrosse

The car above is the new 2010 Buick LaCrosse...this is one of the cars that will bring GM back from the depths of bankruptcy. GM has decided to have their Buick brand compete against Lexus....so, the LaCrosse is aimed squarely at the Lexus ES350.

It appears that Buick has done an exceptional job on the interior of the car....it is a far cry from Buick's of the past. The is blue ambient lighting that emanates from a number of different points....the dash has plenty of wood and there is hand stitching on the dash and seats.

There are three trim levels for the 2010 LaCrosse. The base CX a front wheel drive automobile powered by a 255-hp, 3.0-liter direct-injection V-6....with a six-speed automatic. The next level up offer the same powertrain but has available all-wheel drive. The top of the line LaCrosse CXS is equipped with a 3.6-liter direct-injection V-6 with 280 hp. Fuel economy will be about 18 mpg city/27 highway for the 3.0-liter, according to GM.

An interesting feature of the car will be a head-up display for the gauges. Actually, GM developed the head-up display back in the 1980's. They did deploy them on a few early 1990's cars...the head-up display did not attract much consumer attention and it was shelved.

A head-up display was a technology originally developed for the the military in fighter jets. The system has a projector that displays the images on the windshield. That way the pilot had his head-up during difficult maneuvers. In the automobile world, it is virtually the same technology but with a few key gauges...ie speedometer, tachometer, gas gauge etc.

The LaCrosse has available options of a rearview camera, rear sunshade, adaptive, steering directed headlamps. It does have blue tooth connectivity, USB input jacks and navigation. This is a video from Car and Driver video.

Buick's reliability has been exceptional based on the J. D. Powers rankings. So, this should be a very reliable car.

Pricing is attractive for CX in USD at $27,835, CXL at $30,395 and the top of the line CXS at $33,765. A comparable Lexus starts at $35,145 and can reach $45,000 with options.

Summary:

The Buick LaCrosse is one of the best efforts that GM has put forth lately. They finally decided to compete against Lexus one on one. They have added Lexus like options which were not available before.

It appears that they have decided to market the Cadillac brand against BMW, Mercedes and Audi. It is an interesting marketing strategy!

Buick should have made the exterior styling more attractive to distinguish Buick from Lexus....the interior is the strong suit for the LaCrosse.

Buick has priced the LaCrosse to be a bargain!