Buick Beware: The Korean LaCrosse Cometh

by Edward Niedermeyer

Published: November 22nd, 2010

With its lineup now reaching into realms where even Cadillac dare not tread (namely the $65k Equus luxury flagship), Hyundai is filling in the gaps with ruthless focus. Next up: the near-luxury large sedan segment, where Buick’s LaCrosse has been mounting a one-car comeback for GM’s premium brand. But starting next year, the LaCrosse becomes a mild-hybrid model, lifting its base price to near $30k and giving the Azera an opportunity to become a recession-special spoiler. And with handsome Sonata-meets-Genesis Coupe-meets-LaCrosse looks, the next-gen Azera could just be the first luxurious Hyundai to actually bring real sales volume to the brand. The Azera should launch next year as a 2012 model, and as the gallery below shows, it’s already crawling the streets of Korea, bringing the fight to the Daewoo Alpheon [Thanks to Walter Foreman for the spy shots].

#Design #Korea #NewCars

Edward Niedermeyer

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3 of 28 comments

Mike978 on Nov 22, 2010

Dan, I see you rpoint, but to some extent that is true now because you can buy a Malibu LTZ which has leather. What differentiates that from a Cadillac CTS? More than the leather - the style, plastic quality, headliner, etc etc. If people are utilitarian and think leather equals quality then the Equus will easily outsell the 7, A8 and S-class. Of course for some people (if not most) it takes more than that to make a car truly deserving in its class.

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- Pahaska on Nov 22, 2010
  
  Having owned both a last generation Azera and a similar generation Buick, I would opt for the Azera. A big factor was build quality; the Buick had a lot of niggling problems while the Azera had just one minor problem under warrenty in a similar number of miles. The Azera, while certainly no sports car, rode and handled quite well. My good experience with the Azera is why I now drive a Genesis which has been absolutely trouble-free through the first 18,000 miles. I think the new Azera will be a real winner. It is obviously a good looking car and, I am sure, will have the same great build quality as my last two Hyundais.
  
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Pahaska on Nov 23, 2010

The Hyundai dealership where I bought the Genesis has changed ownership. When I visited for an oil change last week, the whole place had been spiffied up and the service was excellent. By virtue of owning a Genesis, I always get a free wash. I was surprised, though, when I wandered the showroom while waiting and no salesman accosted me. Had I come in through the front door, I'm sure that I would have been greeted.

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Buickman I like it!
JMII Hyundai Santa Cruz, which doesn't do "truck" things as well as the Maverick does.How so? I see this repeated often with no reference to exactly what it does better.As a Santa Cruz owner the only things the Mav does better is price on lower trims and fuel economy with the hybrid. The Mav's bed is a bit bigger but only when the SC has the roll-top bed cover, without this they are the same size. The Mav has an off road package and a towing package the SC lacks but these are just some parts differences. And even with the tow package the Hyundai is rated to tow 1,000lbs more then the Ford. The SC now has XRT trim that beefs up the looks if your into the off-roader vibe. As both vehicles are soft-roaders neither are rock crawling just because of some extra bits Ford tacked on.I'm still loving my SC (at 9k in mileage). I don't see any advantages to the Ford when you are looking at the medium to top end trims of both vehicles. If you want to save money and gas then the Ford becomes the right choice. You will get a cheaper interior but many are fine with this, especially if don't like the all touch controls on the SC. However this has been changed in the '25 models in which buttons and knobs have returned.
Analoggrotto I'd feel proper silly staring at an LCD pretending to be real gauges.
Gray gm should hang their wimpy logo on a strip mall next to Saul Goodman's office.
1995 SC No