Is that 48 minutes early at the gate, or did the plane have to spend half an hour sitting on the ground in London because it was ahead of schedule and another plane was still at the gate? 

Yes it was, I have noticed that the black interiors from that era do seem to hold up better.

And that interior condition is especially important on Volvos, my ‘91 940 Turbo had all its interior plastics bleach white and start biodegrading at about the 10 year mark, and, for whatever reason, the 900/S90 is not as well supported with parts availability as the 200s & 700s. Get one with a good interior, that…

It still has to be a US-market model, you can’t buy, say, a DS3 or a 1-Series. 

Nah, the only reason we don’t allow private imports anymore is because Mercedes and BMW lobbied the US government to stop it in the ‘80s, since too many grey market importers were bringing in foreign market models and undercutting their US dealers. That’s literally it, we’re pretty much the only country in the world…

Oh well, too bad. At least contractors and tradespeople will still have vans to buy. 

Please, we’re talking about modern European cars here, not 3rd world death traps. Different standards don’t automatically mean inferior standards. 

The fact that they seem to already be doing noticeably better under Peugeot ownership probably speaks to that. 

Not if the actual truck-based vehicles are also held to the same standard. The only reason trucks have a lower standard than cars is because when CAFE was created, it was assumed that light trucks were primarily purchased by businesses and tradespeople for their utility, and, so, weren’t used for most people’s…

You know, if it wasn’t for our FMVSS, “Gary’s Discount Import Motors” or whatever could go overseas, do a deal with a Ford dealer in France or somewhere, and bring a boatload over to sell themselves to the niche group of Americans that want a new ST. For all the fuss over tariffs, our non-tarrif regulatory barriers…

Considering that 98+% of SUVs/crossovers/pickups are now sold as commuter and family cars instead of work vehicles, they should really consider dropping the separate CAFE standard for light trucks. I don’t really mind so much that the target for cars is being dropped back down, modern cars are pretty fuel efficient…

I could see that. Although I understand that Vauxhall/Opel were huge money losers that needed loads of investment to turn around, with no guarantees that would work, it still seems very short sighted to me to pull totally out of Europe. If you take the EU together as one market, they’re the 3rd largest car market in…

Oh. My mistake, adding the Canadian sales make a huge difference. Yes, GM should clearly kill their second best selling brand globally and forgo 1.x million sales a year, if it's offset by 167,000 Cruzes, instead of just 143,000.

Part of the problem is that Buick’s perception as an “import” brand is part of what gives it cachet in China. As long as they have some sort of a presence in the US, they can market themselves as an American brand. Upscale Chinese buyers don’t really want Chinese marques. 

So, kill off all of Buick, a brand that sells 1.4 million vehicles a year, and keep an unprofitable compact car that sold less than 143,000 last year? Sounds reasonable. 

1 million+ Chinese customers a year can’t all be wrong, though. How many decades would you have to go back to find the last time Pontiac broke the 7 figure mark? 

Isn’t the Excelle the only Chinese-specific Buick car model right now? I mean, the Velite is a straight rebadge of the Volt, which, I guess, isn’t necessarily affected by the shutdown of Detroit/Hamtramck, so, maybe that’s the one they’re going to send here?

Its his schtick, Cherry gets his mens suits from the same tailor as Hillary Clinton and the Queen. 

Sadly, this was entirely predictable. Its why Aston-Martin’s DBX really needed to happen yesterday. Stick a tailgate and a raised suspension on anything, call it anything other than a wagon or a hatch, and people will line up to pay whatever you’re asking for it. 

Agreed, you can definitely tell it was designed primarily as a coupe, with how it would look as a convertible as a secondary consideration, at most.