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2012 Buick Verano

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These pictures are of the Chinese version, called the Excelle.
But the US model will be called the Verano.

It is, as mentioned before, basically a sedan version of the German Opel Astra. With the same interior.

Engine choices in China include a 145 hp version of the 1.8 Liter offered here on the Cruze.
Or a 1.6 Liter Turbo with 181 hp.

It will come over here in 2011, ready to do battle with the Mazda3 and new Focus sedan.

Conversation 25 comments

  1. Honestly… I didn't expect it to look this handsome.

    I take no issue with BUICK's direction right now, but they really need to make sure that they keep the pricing realistic, as the competition is really strong these days.

  2. Personally, I'm completely disappointed with the name.

    It sounds cheap, and much more Kia than Buick.

    A shame about the moniker. If it had to end in a vowel, then Opollo would have been a better choice than … this.

  4. I don't know, I just don't think that Buick should be building a car to compete with the Mazda3 and new Focus. That should be left up to the Chevrolet Cruze. I just have a problem with this rebadge engineering that got GM in trouble in the first place.

  5. Even tho its a 'compact buick', they're gonna have to come a little sassier than that to sell a 'compact' BUICK!

  7. I don't know how well this car will do here in the USA but I like it a lot. I think the Cruze is nice too but this is better. A previous poster is right….the price has to be right. Not too high otherwise it wont sell at all. I dont see it as a competitor to the "3". It's not an econobox, not a sporty small car, not a plain small car. It's a dressed up small car so I can see it going up against the non-sports versions of the Focus. I can see it going against the upper level Jetta's. If the price is too high though, Americans will just go for a larger vehicle.

  8. Verano?!
    Heck even Verona is a better sounding name.
    This name has no ring to it.

    Sounds unpleasant, almost like Guano or something else gone bad.

    Goodness…I can't believe it!
    I Googled Verano and found
    "the Verano monumental cemetery in Rome"
    A HISTORICAL CEMETARY FOR THE WEALTHY NAMED THE VERANO!
    Buick – change the damned name please.

  9. This is going to compete with the Acura CSX (here in Canada, a Honda Civic fully loaded), the Mercedes B200, the Volvo S40 and some other small "luxury brand" cars.

    It seems to be quite good looking and the 1.6 with turbo is promising.

  10. I agree that it sounds very Kia or Hyundai. But the car itself is very nice looking. It looks way more formal than a Mazda 3 or the new Focus, and I'm sure that there is a market segment for it. Essentially, it's the size of a C-Class but with FWD. The people who buy C-classes don't care about FWD versus RWD.

    To those who claim "badge engineering," they don't understand the term. It's a global platform and it was always intended to be sold in different regional areas. There aren't multiple versions of this within the same marketplace.

  11. The car is ok, but I agree that the name is not. In fact, Verano is our spanish word for summer. I don't think Buick should compete in this car segment it makes the brand loose some class…

  13. Stupid name.

    The hatch looks better. The front end looks too boring for me, and Im not a fan of the stupid chrome over the tail lights.

  14. There is nothing wrong w/ badge engineering….it just needs to be executed properly.

    I hate to use this reference – however the Buick Rendevous was simply an Aztek – and the Buick was a decent rig…the Aztek….well – you know.

  15. The name isn't the problem. All of the styling cues are exact copies of every other Buick. Toyota got into this problem with its designs. However, a Civic doesn't look like an Accord. A Fit doesn't look just like a Civic. Even the Element looks nothing like the CR-V on which it's based. Buick has a great design, but it doesn't have to be copied in every size of every model.

  16. The car isn't good looking. The transplanted front end doesn't match the middle section of the car. The front looks cheap, tall and out of place, specially the headlights. As for the back, the chrome eyebrows over the tail lights look like something out of the 80's. They could've done MUCH better, like changing only the grille as in the Insignia.

  17. I love the recent Buick/Opel designs, but this just looks bad. First of all, the front and rear of the car seemed to have been following two completely separate design languages.
    This really affects the car's profile, as the rear end looks misaligned from the rest of the body.
    It seems to me Buick tried far too hard to make this look like their Lacrosse.
    Oh, and by the way, that rear quarter window? Not on such a small car.

  20. Really the only thing out of place here are those tail light and crome eyebrows. The rest looks great.

    So where's this Lincoln MKFocus? I'm eager to see how it turns out. I'm hoping it's more than just a grill swap with the Mercury Tracer concept.

  21. It's nice and all but lets be for real. GM still ain't really did anything new to their designs and all. Like the LaCross' greenhouse is just the Saturn Aura's. And this greenhouse reminds me of the LaCross back in 2009. So instead of changing the design, they just use designs in different segments from diffrent years.

  22. About Honda design… Honda produce the most horrible cars actually sold. The Element is atrocious, the Crosstour is ridiculous, the Ridgeline and the Pilot seem to have been drawn by a 3 y/o kid… At least buick didn't have Honda as a design inspiration!

  23. jtz said…

    It's nice and all but lets be for real. GM still ain't really did anything new to their designs and all. Like the LaCross' greenhouse is just the Saturn Aura's. And this greenhouse reminds me of the LaCross back in 2009. So instead of changing the design, they just use designs in different segments from diffrent years.

    What the hell are you talking about?

  24. "What the hell are you talking about?"

    The greenhouse, the cabin? The pillar arrangment? That's what I'm talking about. Like the 1992 Taurus, Saturn L300, 1st generation Avalon, 2011 Infinti M, and so on and so on. Nothing new.

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