Holden Statesman

Last Updated:




The question is:
Can Holden make a better Buick?

I like the Lucerne and I gave it a pretty good review when I got to drive one for a few days.
It is a pretty good car. But that’s about it.
It doesn’t really feel expensive, refined or special.

This large Holden on the other hand already looks much more upscale in pictures. And rear wheel drive doesn’t hurt either.
I think this car would not scare away the loyal Buick customers. But could also bring in some new people.

That’s pretty much what Buick has been trying to do for decades isn’t it…

Conversation 12 comments

  1. Perhaps GM should just make World cars, and skip designing them just for the USA! Seems the ones we can’t get here are much better then the ones they build for us.

  2. GM Should Bury Buick
    I hope this car comes here but as Chevy. Buick has had a good run and like that other ‘geriatric’ Oldsmobile, it should be put out to pasture.

    I know of no redeeming brand value that Buick has that would justify why GM stubbornly insist on its contiuned existence. Nor is there any evidence to indicate Buick’s new models are creating any ripple effect on GM sales or stopping their sliding market share.

    Buick’s existence like Oldsmobile is doomed because it is part of the old legacy brands that began shrinking in the late ’70s and early ’80s.

    Instead of pouring more marketing and development cost into this rat hole GM should continue to innovate and improve their more popular and viable brands like Chevy, Pontiac, Saturn and Caddilac.

  3. Buick IS getting this car. It will be ranked above the Lucerne. That’s been the word for months now.

  4. Olds should have been buried? not from what I have read, and heard.
    we buy imports, But, even the Alero was a decent effort, which won a top 3 spot for Long Term,(JD Powers?), from 02-05, with Malibu and Sonata.

    The Alero(if they would have fixed those foglight sized tail lights) was not a geriatric looking car.

    Anyhow….
    they should make Buick exciting, or dump em. They even had “entry level” Buicks back in 1979! The Skylark. Lasted what, 20 years, give or take?
    Was out prior to any Cavalier(think first Cavalier came out in 81).

  5. i know you may dislike FWD, cas of the snow, but getting a camry! thats going too far….maybe its because i dislike the colour beige. However you have to rember that RWD with holden’s new ESP IS the safer bet, not only will it remove the oversteering tendencies but wil also reduce understeer which is a chronic problem with big long heavy FWD cars. If you push a big heavy car around the corner with power only going through the front, i can assure you, you wont be going around it. FWD is purely a driveline for the accountants-cheap. why do you think that the best in the business, that is for driving dynamics and performance have stuck to rwd e.g. merc and bimmer, and those that have pushed the boundaries including the japnese supercars use 4WD. Name one true FWD drivers car that is not a small 4 pot banger that is any good.

  6. Holden periodically make the mistake of not seperating the Stateman stylistically from the Commodore. I’ll wait till I actually see one to say for sure if they’ve done it again.

  7. Well the only panels they share this time around are the front doors and windscreens, everything else is different, so you shouldn’t say it looks too much like a commodore, however there should always be a link between the two

  8. Ummmmmm…. I dislike RWD, Learned to drive using RWD, but it was no fun in snow,which is about 4-6 months per year in the Midwest.Saying that, this i sa nice car. The interior is akin tothe Amanti.I’d drive an (inexpensive , base model)Azera over this. Or the next gen Amanti(or current one…on sale loaded for 20K).Toyota is nice, and large, and if I had 28-30K to spend(waste?) on a car, I’d get a loaded Camry, perhaps.I dunno. All of the best designs from Big 2.5 are overseas. See Opel( why does GM feel the need to ugly them up, when they will send them here as Saturns?).This is not bad, but I doubt it would get the people who drive Avalons, Lexus, or even the “almost; Luxury Azera, to go to Buick.People may scoff, by my neighbor had one of those old 1990 Skylarks, and it lasted 227,000 miles, with only an alternator at 157,000 miles, but brake pads needed replaced every 25,000 miles!She had that thing until 2004, and it was starting ot rust some, faded paint, etc.I’d drive one!Hey, if ya want younger people to go to Buick? Bring over one of their entry level Chinese built GM/Buicks here!Forgot the name of it.Looks decent, though. Beats those Cobalts and G5’s!The Excelle(like the forenza at Suzuki, but waaaay better looking)Vince, hope you don’t mind the link!If Buick bought this over , tweaked it some(maybe for some crash tests, and maybe mor esound deadening insulation, tweak the suspension and engine some more, give it the 145HP Cobalt engine, even)… and say no more than 18K loaded up(with moonroof, leatherette), I’d consider one!

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *