Aldred: Strong Response to Avista Expedites “Serious” Production Consideration
2016 Buick Avista Concept
Photo: © General Motors
Well, that certainly didn’t take long.
Buick and GMC Vice President Duncan Aldred told Bloomberg on the day that the Buick Avista Concept broke cover that the brand would wait to see “if it gets great reaction at the auto shows” to mull over the possibility of bringing its 2+2 coupe to the people.
A few days, a ton of blow-away feedback, and one EyesOn Design Award for Design Excellence for a Concept Car later, and Duncan appears to be changing his tune a bit.
“The reaction does make us go back and look at it on a global basis and ask what the business case (and) the benefit might be,” Aldred told WardsAuto. “It gives us serious thought.”
Taking the groundwork put forth by the Avista and turning it around to create a production model is not that far-fetched, particularly given that ostensibly just did the same thing with the 2017 LaCrosse, which owes a great deal of its swanky look (at least on the outside) to the Buick Avenir Concept that showed up unannounced to NAIAS last year. And, hey, not for nothing, but that concept also won the EyesOn Design award.
Still, the Avista formula wouldn’t easily be applied to any other vehicle in the Buick lineup, which makes it more difficult to scale. The thing that Aldred says that may ultimately cause the Avista to hit the backburner would be a lack of priority, noting that it would likely have to “go in the place of something else.” If that’s all it’s gonna take, might we recommend the Verano, whose sales were down a whopping 27.1% in 2015?
“I’d like a replacement halo, just as we have with Cascada,” Aldred added. “(Avista) gets us to start looking at it on a global level. The reaction has been so good, I will look at it with my team and kick it around a bit.”
Yeah. You look at it and kick it around. Do that.
News Source: WardsAuto
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