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GM Vice Chairman Bob “Maximum” Lutz published a new post today on the corporate GM Fastlane Blog that addresses the automaker’s newest concept that debuted recently at Auto China 2008 in Beijing: the Invicta. The concept heavily hints at what the next-generation Buick LaCrosse will look like, but Bob points out that the global architecture underpinning the vehicle will be the basis of new cars for Chevy, Saab, Opel/Vauxhall and more. In the past, we would’ve expected those accompanying models to be rebadged versions with different grilles, headlights and taillights, but Bob explains how GM’s new global platform sharing process is different than the rebadging of old. In a nutshell, he says that the money saved from sharing common platforms see will be put into making everything that customer’s will see - exterior and interior design, specifically - completely different. While it’s great to hear Bob talk about how GM finally “gets it” when it comes to producing common products across an empire of brands, it’s something that other automakers like VW/Audi have been doing for years while the General kept feeding us “triplets” of every model it made. So kudos to GM for finally getting it, but it took ‘em long enough.
[Source: GM ]

On the eve of the Beijing Motor Show ,General Motors Chairman Rick Wagoner and Design VP Ed Welburn along with their Chinese colleagues unveiled the Buick Invicta concept. Your regular Autoblog team didn’t make the trek to China for this show, but our cohorts at Autoblog Chinese showed up for GM’s Premier Night party to check out what will be the replacement for the current LaCrosse. The car was revealed sitting on a pool of water, perhaps implying that it is Buick’s messiah, standing by to breathe new life into the brand Stateside. Buick is of course thriving in China, and some of the same team that created last year’s Riviera concept participated in the styling of this new model. This design riding on the Epsilon II platform is expected to make the transition to production pretty much unscathed although the roofline might be slightly higher.

[Source: Autoblog Chinese]

Buick has dusted off the Invicta name, which hasn’t been used by the brand since 1959, for its newest concept that debuted today at the Beijing Motor Show. The mid-size sedan previews the look of what U.S. customers will get with the next redesign of the LaCrosse sedan, and draws much of its design inspiration from Buick’s most recent concepts like the Riviera and Velite. The Invicta features traditional Buick design cues like its waterfall grille and portholes, relocated on this car to the hood rather than the front fenders, but the rest of its styling is modern and fresh in a decidedly un-Buick way. The high beltline is a common element in many auto designs today, and is used well on the Invicta to give the concept a big presence for a mid-size car. We particular the shape of the lower air intake up front and the “sweepspear” character line along the side of the car. The sweepspear looks a bit like the sheetmetal kink on the Dodge Avenger, but so much better. The interior, meanwhile, appears surprisingly production ready with a wraparound dash and self-contained location for all controls above the sweeping center console.

Power for the concept comes from a turbocharged, direct-inject four-cylinder engine producing 250 horsepower and 220 pound-feet of torque, which is hooked up to a six-speed automatic transmission. Since it’s a concept, however, the Invicta’s powertrain is pretty immaterial. We’re interested in its styling since it’s likely what we’ll see on the next-gen LaCrosse, which is scheduled to switch over to the Epsilon II platform that’s shared with the Chevy Malibu when it debuts as a 2010 model. According to spy shots, things are coming along quite nicely.

[Source: Buick]