Battison Auto Group

Opel's new Astra GTC hatch has just debuted across the pond. And if reports are true, it will soon be coming to America - only with a Buick badge.

You might be thinking the Astra nameplate sounds familiar. That's because GM tried to bring the Astra stateside once before. Only, that time, it was under a Saturn badge. Needless to say, the plan did not achieve the success that was hoped.  Having learned from their mistakes, however, GM is planning to do things a little differently when they bring the Astra under the Buick badge.

First of all, the…

Buick is getting greener this year. In mid 2011, the American automaker plans to introduce the 2012 LaCrosse eAssist. The new green machine is expected to deliver 25 mpg-city/37 mpg-highway. By comparison, the 2011 LaCrosse (with the same 4-cylinder engine) delivered only 19 mpg-city/30 mpg-hwy. Such a rise in mpg can yield an impressive 30 percent gain in fuel economy. 

Buick's innovative e-Assist is similar in principal to the belt-alternator-starter (BAS) hybrid-system previously used by other automakers. Only, it's vastly improved.

The main difference between the original iteration of the BAS system and the newest design…

Buick has announced it will launch an all-new luxury compact in 2012 called Verano. This will be the company's first compact offering since the 1989 Skyhawk.

According to a press release: The Buick Verano will be an upscale version of the Chevrolet Cruze, the best-selling global compact car from GM that has just been introduced in the United States in 2011.

"The Verano will fill a very important niche for Buick, which hasn't had an entry-level car for more than two decades," said John Murray, general manager of Quirk Buick GMC, a Manchester, NH Buick dealer. "The new…