One of Buick’s only remaining passenger cars is currently in trouble
General Motors’ decision to idle several of its North American plants is greatly affecting its current model lineup. At the same time, another automaker’s decision to reduce production at its plants could also affect several GM models.
Groupe PSA recently announced that it would drastically reduce production at Opel’s German Ruesselsheim assembly plant. This is where the Buick Regal is currently built.
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PSA will reportedly reduce production at the Ruesselsheim plant by nearly half, from 123,000 vehicles to 68,000 vehicles a year. These cuts will ensure capacity improvements, according to an official statement from Opel.
The plant currently serves as the site for production of the Opel Insignia, which the Buick Regal is based upon. Other vehicles built at the Ruesselsheim location include the Holden ZB Commodore and the Zafira commercial van.
Opel Insignia sales took quite a hit in 2018
Many of these vehicles suffered serious sales losses in 2018. Insignia sales fell by 6.8 percent, while sales for the Zafira van were down 39 percent.
On the other hand, sales for the Buick Regal were actually up last year, following the introduction of the Buick Regal TourX. Buick sold 14,118 Buick Regals last year, representing a sales increase of 22.1 percent.
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Back in 2017, GM officially sold Opel and Vauxhall to Groupe PSA for roughly $2.6 billion. Despite the sale, the current generation of the Buick Regal is still built by Opel.
Yet, that agreement is soon coming to an end. PSA plans to phase out the current Opel platforms by 2021. If Buick wants production of the Regal to continue, it will have to develop an in-house platform for the model.
This massive production cut doesn’t necessarily mean that the Buick Regal is on the chopping block just yet. Still, between this development and the approaching deadline for the Regal’s current platform, things don’t look too good for one of Buick’s only remaining passenger cars.
News Source: Automotive News Europe (subscription required)
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