After a long striptease, General Motors has finally unveiled the first renderings and details surrounding its Buick Invicta concept -- a vision of Buick's future and another in-the-sheetmetal manifestation of the growing international synergy between GM's Buick teams in Shanghai, China, and Warren, Michigan.
Invicta -- the star of GM's stand at the 2008 AutoChina show in Beijing -- is also widely believed to be what the 2010 Buick LaCrosse that's been spied testing will become when it makes its appearance on Buick showroom floors in both China and the U.S. The LaCrosse is a nameplate sold both here and in China, but the cars are substantially different. That will change with the next LaCrosse, which will be underpinned by GM's global Epsilon II architecture. The Epsilon II is front-drive based but all-wheel drive capable. Powering the Invicta concept is a version of GM's 2.0-liter, direct-injection turbo four cylinder with an estimated 250 horsepower and 220 lb-ft of torque, mated to a six-speed automatic transmission.
Buick rummaged through the badge bin to find Invicta (Latin for invincible) -- last affixed to a Buick in the late 1950s. But there's nothing old school about how the Invicta's design language was developed. According to GM's global design head Ed Welburn, the Buick design teams in both the U.S. and China put their brain power together, using the company's virtual design centers to help meld the best ideas from both teams. Much the same was done with the Riviera concept that debuted at last year's Shanghai show.
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