The Buick Cascada Isn't the Chrysler 200 Convertible Rental Queen You Thought It Would Be
Front-wheel-drive, soft top, four-cylinder engine, hefty curb weight— the ideal car for the Enterprise Rent-A-Car lot at Miami International Airport?
Not so.
On sale since January, the Buick Cascada has attracted 6,154 individual U.S. buyers over the last ten months.
According to Buick, General Motors has only seen three Cascadas make their way into fleet use, for a total of 6,157 Cascada sales through the end of October.
Considered an apt successor to the defunct Chrysler 200 Convertible, the Buick Cascada — essentially a rebadged Opel Astra convertible — has not found extensive critical praise in the U.S. “Cowl shake and rattling are evident, as is significant noise, even when the top is up,” says TTAC’s review. “Ride quality is stiffer than you might expect or want from a Buick convertible, a feeling amplified by larger-than-necessary 20-inch wheels.”
Car And Driver called the Cascada sluggish, blaming a 3,962-pound curb weight hampering “every type of performance we measure.” Consumer Reports said the Cascada is “just a bit dated in some details.”
But while the natural assumption was that General Motors would push the Cascada toward daily rental fleets in southern climes — C/D suggested vacationers could enjoy “some fun under the sun” before considering a Buick “when shopping for a new car back home” — GM is presently attempting to minimize the company’s reliance on daily rental companies.
87 percent of Buick’s U.S. sales through the first ten months of 2016 occurred on the retail front. Company-wide, the percentage of GM sales produced by fleets fell from 23 percent in the first ten months of 2015 to 19 percent this year. Total GM sales are down 4 percent this year, but the company’s retail volume is up 1 percent.
Apparently, the Buick Cascada most ably exemplifies this trend. Only 0.05 percent of Cascada sales are linked to the dreaded “fleet” tag.
The Cascada is nevertheless featured in GM’s vast fleet guide for 2017, if you’re of a mind to purchase a few dozen Cascadas for your friends at Del Boca Vista, Phase III.
Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.
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Welcome to the new world. Where we have a British Infiniti, Hungarian Mercede Benz's, a Mexican Fiat,an American NSX and Italian Jeeps.
It isn't badged as an Astra convertible though. In Europe it is a distinct model, Opel / Vauxhall Cascada, it is positioned in a strange place between the Astra and the Insignia (Buick Regal) though it sits on the Astra Delta 2 platform. The rumour / urban myth is that it is something of a strange entry in the GM Europe lineup (otherwise made up mostly of hatchbacks and crossovers) and size wise between the Astra and Insignia models because it was originally intended to be a new Saab 93 cabrio, and was hurriedly rebadged when that marque was spun off..... Of course it is also the successor to the folding roof Astra convertible, now that hinged metal convertibles seem to be out of fashion with their aircraft carrier rear decks.