Big car teaser

Drumroll, please ... the all new 2010 Buick LaCrosse has a grill!

That's all that can be gleaned from this "exclusive" first-look photo released today by General Motors Corp. of its redesigned family sedan. The photo at right is not cropped or altered; it's exactly as GM released it. It is the only photo available of the car, and our guess is that unless you are a designer specializing in grills and headlamps, it doesn't say all that much.

Except, perhaps, that carmakers, and particularly GM, work very hard to establish what they call a "story" leading up to the release of new models. The LaCrosse will be fully unveiled at the L.A. Auto Show in November, and this photo is designed "to help build interest toward the actual unveil," said Buick spokesman Bob Tripolsky.

Releasing teaser photos of parts of cars is becoming increasingly common. The goal is to generate buzz and lots of pictures in car magazines. Some carmakers prefer poorly lit profile shots, while others go for near abstract renderings that are awfully reminiscent of Franz Kline drawings.

It's all great for car nuts champing at the bit for every morsel on their favorite model, like carefully placed rumors of a death in the final chapter of the Harry Potter series. But the incremental nature of the reveals -- think of it as a curtain raising in extremely slow motion -- can be frustrating.

GM is currently attempting a gold-medal performance. Hands down, the biggest tease in history has to be the production version of the Chevy Volt extended range electric car.

Starting in January, GM began inviting people to its top-secret facilities outside Detroit, where designers literally grabbed at the sheet covering the clay model of the car, hiking it up just enough to see a corner of the bumper. Eventually that became a corner of a bumper plus a headlight.

In April, video of a scale model, heavily camouflaged with tape and paint to hide detail, was taken by a radio reporter invited to tour GM facilities. Then, two weeks ago, GM ratcheted things up a bit, showing us the entire left headlight, front left wheel and about half the grill and bumper of the Volt. A scant three days later, a new flurry of official teaser Volt pics came out, including -- heavens -- a glimpse of the car's rear.

The tension is unbearable. Anyhow, rumor has it that the full Volt *may* be revealed this fall. Or this winter. Or perhaps they can drag this out a bit longer.

As for the LaCrosse, some dealers have apparently been given sneak peaks of the vehicle, but they aren't talking. Buick's Tripolsky said the photo was just to prime enthusiast expectations: "I personally have always found it fun to try to envision in the back of my mind what the rest of the product looks like."

We bet it has four wheels and a trunk.

-- Ken Bensinger

Photos of the 2010 Buick LaCrosse and 2011 Chevrolet Volt (such as they are), courtesy of General Motors.

Comments

[Dana Luthy]

What is the deal with the ketchup-slow reveal of the Volt? Could there ever be more hype about an automobile that isn't even proven yet, that doesn't even make sense for most car buyers? And I certainly don't know that this photo is going to generate much excitement for a Buick, the most forgotten brand in GM's portfolio. It should have gone the way of Oldsmobile and Plymouth.

[The Flem]

There was a time when I really cared about what the new Buick looked like or the new Chevy. However, GM has been out-of-touch w/consumer reality for many years. That's why they've lost so much market share.

As an American I'd like to see them come back. But until they really start making cars that please the American consumer, frankly who cares what the new Buick looks like or the Chevy Volt!!!!

Till they do I won't invest w/them any more!!!!!

[Peter]

I'm really looking forward to the prospect of buying a plug in hybrid car. Too bad the first one out will likely be the Chevy Volt. I'm just going to have a wait that much longer for a quality product to come out.

[Brad]

Still waiting for GM to build cars that I would want to buy...a.k.a. as cars that last more than 100K miles and don't constantly break down. They have a long road to hoe before I'll be tempted to drop another $20-$25K on one of their experiments...

[Justin Weber]

I think the author missed the point on this one. I don't really care how the Volt is promoted. I don't care if they show a head lamp, a month later a piece of the grill, then the fog light, then the tire. I'm happy knowing that a major automaker is working on a high-volume vehicle which will be a leap in MPG's.

Don't lose the focus!!

[smith]

the people that are down playing the volt are stuiped, they know nothing about how that will improve the C02 released in the air, GM has already done this song and dance with a elec car, ( the EVO1 Saturn) which was a great car but GM crushed them all, many because of stuiped people not getting the idea, and the oil companys, but since we are having a gas shortage now they have too.
So stuiped people; get with it this will be a new kind of car, take it in.