The answer to that question is a simple one: China.  GM recently had some hard decisions to make.   Would it kill off its last “big new idea” which was to build from the ground up a small car line using new methods of factory operation (read Japanese methods)?  Of course, this refers to Saturn, which had sucked an enormous amount of GM’s time, talent and money over the years, only to end up being populated with some excellent cars made not by its own factory, but by GM owned Opal, a German company.  Or would it abandon its performance division, Pontiac, which had seen a resurgence in its product  line, with the highlight being the new G8, which was wonderfully balanced and fast, a true BMW type sedan?  No one much thought about Buick in that equation, with its aging product line matched only by its aging owners.  However, one thing that Buick did well, which no other car line has done to the same extent at least, is sell really well in China.  Thus, GM axed Saturn and Pontiac and saved Buick.  Since then GM  has started to focus its considerable talent on several new cars (again, like the last Saturns, using modified German Opal cars) which are revitalizing the company and should boost US sales as well.  The new Regal will even have an optional stick shift transmission.  “[Saving Buick]… was an unlikely but fortuitous choice. Last year, the [Buick] brand was among the biggest in the booming Chinese market, accounting for sales of more than 447,000, or more than four times Buick’s volume in the U.S.”

Read more: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37361381/#ixzz0qMY8eZDk

 Michael