2010 Buick Crossover Canceled

In the early days of August, General Motors rolled out the red carpet for its 2010 Buick Crossover that created quite a big fuzz among GM's officials. Today, the company is getting ready for the funerals, as the management board decided to cancel the project. Why? Because some people thought that such a model doesn't "fit the premium characteristic that customers have come to expect from Buick," as Tom Stephens, GM Vice Chairman, explained.

Through this decision, General Motors aims to emphasize the new "culture" of the company who is now willing to listen its customers and develop exactly the models they look for.

"What gives me pause is how quickly we made a decision and carried it out. In the past this would have been a several-month process involving meeting after meeting of the APB, ASB, and various other acronyms, and also many “offline” follow-up discussions before a decision was reached and enacted. This happened in one day," Stephens said.

What's interesting is that GM initially said the new Buick crossover is going to be a state-of-the-art model that "will continue to broaden the appeal of the brand," as Susan Docherty, general manager of Buick-Pontiac-GMC, said earlier this month. The hybrid technology that was supposed to be fitted on the new Buick will be transferred to another model.

"We were all struck by the consistency of the criticism of the compact crossover. And what we decided to do in response is a good example of the essence of the new General Motors… acting quickly, and boldly, and listening to feedback from customers, employees, dealers, media and just about anyone else with an opinion," Stephens concluded.