Buick-Opel Lives On, Starting in New York

CarShowSafari is headed to the 2017 New York International Auto Show, beginning with the Media Days on April 12 and 13, and one of the vehicles we’ll see there is Buick’s new Regal. Buick news is rarely exciting for driving enthusiasts, but there are two significant stories attached to the new model.

This first is that the new Regal line will include both a four-door hatchback and a crossover-style variant which is closer in execution to a conventional station wagon than to an SUV.

Second, and perhaps more meaningful in the long term, is that Opel, which General Motors is in the process of selling to the PSA Group, has committed to producing Buick-branded vehicles in German factories for GM beyond 2019. PSA is the French maker of Peugeot and Citroën vehicles.

In recent years several Buick models have been based on Opels, including the Cascada convertible which is a Buick in the US and an Opel in Europe, and the outgoing Regal, which, like the new Regal, is based on the Opel Insignia. In statements released ahead of the New York show, Opel indicated that it will continue to build “sister products for another GM brand” and GM said that the new Regal models for the US will be built by Opel in Ruesselsheim, Germany.

Earlier this year GM reached an agreement to sell Opel and its UK Vauxhall business to PSA for a reported $2.3 million, ending a trans-Atlantic alliance that dates back to the 1920s. The news of the sale raised an array of questions ranging from future products to union contracts. This week’s announcements appears to have been aimed at easing some of those uncertainties surrounding the sale.

But at the same time, Opel is launching several new and replacement models this year including the Crossland X small crossover and the Grandland X compact crossover, both of which incorporate PSA underpinnings.

Opel’s Ruesselsheim factory currently builds the Insignia while the Eisenach plant makes the Adam minicar and Corsa subcompact. The Cascada is built in Gliwice, Poland, and the Mokka X, a model known in the US as the Buick Encore, is built in Opel’s plant in Zaragoza, Spain.

Opels, of course, were for a time sold in the US under the Opel name, alongside Buicks in the Buick dealer showrooms. The high-water mark for Opel-branded cars here was likely the Opel Manta in the 1971 through 1975 model years, followed quickly by the low point, Isuzu cars sold here as Opels.

We will be checking out the new cars from Buick and all the other manufacturers. Follow the news here and on Periscope, Twitter and Instagram the day of the event!