General Motors (GM) has announced that they will be recalling certain models of the 2007 Buick Lucerne. Certain vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 118, ‘Power operated window, partition, and roof panel systems.’ Under the standard, the sunroof may only be closed when the ignition is on, or after the ignition is turned off, but before either of the front doors are opened. The affected vehicles may exhibit a condition where the sunroof can be closed after the ignition is turned off and the doors are opened.

This standard specifies requirements for power operated window, partition, and roof panel systems to minimize the likelihood of death or injury from their accidental operation. Dealers will install a new harness. Owners may contact Cadillac at 1-866-982-2339.

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Pontiac and Buick are facing a huge recall, 207,542 are to be recalled over fears of a engine. The exact models affected are the 1997-2003 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP and the 1997-2003 Buick Regal GS which has the V6 3.8-liter supercharged engine.

Both the Pontiac and the Buick may suffer an oil leak which can drop onto the exhaust manifold while breaking hard. The problem could get worse if the oil reaches the manifold’s heat shield, this in turn could cause a small flame this could then spread to the spark plug covers, and once that happens it could then turn into an engine fire.

The fire does not happen while the car is running; it will normally happen once the engine has been switched of for 5 to 10 minutes, this is a major fire risk. So if you owe one of these cars, you should try not to park your vehicle at any car parks or even in your garage.

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GM announced that they will be recalling several models of GM Minivans. They include the 2001-04 Pontiac Aztek and Montana; 2002-04 Buick Rendezvous and Chevrolet Venture.

The problem seems to be The fuel-tank inlet-check valve could fracture, which might produce a fuel leak and fire. Dealers will replace the fuel tank. For more information, call Pontiac at 800-620-7668, Buick at 866-608-8080 or Chevrolet at 800-630-2438.

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by Damon Lavrinc

Judging by the positive reception the Chinese-marketed Buicks have been receiving here in the States, GM would be ill-advised to continue offering the same warmed-over products that it’s been selling over the past decade. According to Automotive News, the General sees the writing on the wall and intends to go global with the new look of Buick, originally shown at the Shanghai Motor Show in the shape of the Riviera concept.

The idea is to make Buick an affordable luxury brand here in the States, and it has plans on offering a number of new vehicles to the U.S. market that will take on the high-end competitors from Japan.

To begin with, the Excelle, a small sedan, is set to be released sometime in 2008, based off the Alpha platform currently under development in Germany, while the next iteration of the LaCrosse will come in 2009 and will be based off of GM’s Epsilon 2 underpinnings. The Lucerne will get a full makeover in 2011 and will be built around the RWD Zeta platform, and the Rainier, Rendezvous and Terraza will die off after the current production run, and replaced with the new Enclave.

Buick’s move to become more things to more people is the only way the marque will survive, and judging by what’s in the pipeline, the automaker actually has a chance at success.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

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Buick originated as an independent motor car manufacturer, the Buick Motor Company, incorporated on May 19, 1903 by the Scottish-American David Dunbar Buick (who invented the overhead valve engine on which the company’s success was based) in Flint, Michigan. In 1904 the struggling company was taken over by James Whiting, who brought in William C. Durant to manage his new acquisition. Buick sold his stock for a small sum upon departure, and died in modest circumstances forty years later.
Durant was a natural, and Buick soon became the largest car maker in America. Using the profits from this, Durant embarked on a series of corporate acquisitions, calling the new mega-corporation General Motors.
At first, the manufacturers comprising General Motors competed against each other, but Durant ended that. He wanted each General Motors division to target one class of buyer, and in his new scheme Buick was near the top—only the Cadillac brand had more prestige.
In 1929 the Buick Motor Division launched the Marquette sister brand, designed to bridge the price gap between Buick and Oldsmobile, however Marquette was discontinued in 1930.
Today Buick retains that position in the GM lineup. The ideal Buick customer was comfortably off, possibly not quite rich enough to afford a Cadillac or not desiring the ostentation of one, but definitely in the market for a car above the norm. Buick is one of the oldest marques in the world, with Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Peugeot, Cadillac, Daimler and the discontinued Oldsmobile.
Speculation [1] existed, however, as to whether GM will repeat its termination of the Oldsmobile by eliminating the Buick brand to cut costs. This followed the temporary suspension of GM’s planned Zeta project to develop new rear wheel drive cars fitting the Buick market niche [2]. GM also has started consolidating of Buick, Pontiac, and GMC trucks into single dealer franchises, which would make it simple to eliminate the Buick brand without leaving dealers devoid of product. However, with the development of the Zeta platform still ongoing (including the development of the 2006 VE Holden Commodore and the new Chevrolet Camaro), it may be likely that Buick will survive still.
Buick began consolidating its lineup in 2005, replacing the Century and Regal with the LaCrosse (known as the Buick Allure in Canada), and the LeSabre and Park Avenue with the Lucerne in 2006. The company will replace both of its SUVs, the Rendezvous and Rainier with the Enclave within 18 months, while the slow-selling Terraza minivan likely to end production shortly after. This will leave the marque with just three models in the United States by 2009. There have been rumors on Edumund’s and Motor Trend that Buick will have a roadster sedan in 2010, which could mean that the marque may survive beyond 2009.

Source: Wikipedia

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by Damon Lavrinc

One of the issues ailing domestic automakers is a bloated sales network, which sometimes includes pitting two dealers of the same brand against one another within the same market. Chrysler, Ford and General Motors have been trying to make inroads into this problem over the past year, and while these efforts are for the good of the company, the effects take their toll.

According to Automotive News, the Big 2.5 cut 462 dealerships between them in 2006. So far in 2007, GM has killed off 222 of its own dealerships, compared to this time last year. Much of this effort is the consolidation of franchises that only sold a few of the automaker’s brands, to now include as many as they can handle (i.e. a GMC dealership now carries Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac, HUMMER, Saab, etc.)

GM isn’t alone in their neighborhood downsizing, as both Chrysler and Ford have made significant cutbacks so far this year, with the former nixing 134 dealerships, while the latter cut 126, when compared to 2006 figures.

The upside to all of these cutbacks is more profits for fewer dealers, but at the same time, dealers that have been in the business for decades are being forced to sell their stores to local competitors. As expected, these retailers are leaving their livelihood feeling bitter and dejected.

Whether or not any of this will make a difference to the Big 2.5’s bottom line remains to be seen, but it should be interesting to see how many total dealers were lost in 2007 and how many more will be killed off in 2008.

[Source: Automotive News (Sub. Req.)]

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