zeta Archives | AutoDepot

Filed under: Sedan, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Rumormill, Luxury

Cadillac Sixteen concept car in the wet

The ongoing yarn about General Motors fielding a brace of rear-wheel drive flagship sedans based on a new generation Premium Zeta platform has hit the big time, with Motor Trend reporting that the platform will underpin a sport sedan for Chevrolet. Last month, the rejigged Zeta was touted as the basis for a flagship Buick that would finally, and properly, challenge Lexus. MT’s report says there will be two wheelbases for this new Zeta, and that those two variants will do duty under a Cadillac, a U.S. Buick and potentially a Chinese-market Buick, and several Holden models along with the aforementioned Chevy.

As the basis for premium sedans, General Motors could spend the money to make it properly light and strong through the use of high-strength steels. The Chevy sport sedan mentioned would be “a kind of four-door Camaro” – Pontiac G8 GXP redux, anyone? – while the Buick only gets described as “cushier,” and both would go on the shorter wheelbase Zeta.

The most interesting tidbit could be Cadillac’s use of the long-wheelbase platform. MT prices a Cadillac flagship at between $125,000 and $140,000 and says the Zeta-based Cadillac, Whitacre’s S-Class rival for the Crest-and-Wreath brand, will sit beneath it. If it all comes to pass, that would give Cadillac a larger CTS, then an XTS, then a properly sporting high-end luxury competitor, then a one-Caddy-to-rule-them-all ne plus ultra model by 2014 or so. Hat tip to Joshua!

[Source: Motor Trend]

Rumormill: Rumblings of Zeta-based family of rear-wheel-drive GM sedans persist originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 24 Sep 2010 14:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Rumormill: Rumblings of Zeta-based family of rear-wheel-drive GM sedans persist”

Filed under: Budget, Sedan, Buick, GM, Rumormill, Luxury

We can quit wondering where General Motors is heading with Buick. Maybe. If rumors dusting up from GM Inside News are to be believed, company leadership has the Tri-Shield’s sights trained solidly on Lexus. We all know that the 2010 Buick LaCrosse was positioned as the answer to the Lexus ES 350, but supposedly, GM is aiming even higher and cooking up a Zeta-based sedan to go head-to-head with the Lexus LS. If you believe the hype, design work has already been given the go-ahead, but production ihas yet to receive an official OK from up top. Details are predictably scarce, but GM Inside News claims that the styling is sharp as can be.

Interestingly enough, the Zeta platform that would provide the basis for the rumored big Buick isn’t exactly the same as the one underpinning the mega-Holdens prowling Australia (or the Caprice soon to be cruising your local donut shop, or the Buick Park Avenue that’s already sold in China). Instead, GMI says that the luxe Buick will be built upon something called the Premium Zeta Platform, and that the oft-rumored Cadillac flagship will use the same bones. Sounds great, but until we hear something official from The General, we won’t start holding our collective breath.

Rumormill: GM mulling Zeta-based Buick flagship? originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 07 Aug 2010 14:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Continue reading “Rumormill: GM mulling Zeta-based Buick flagship?”