When the new Regal launches in 2011, Buick hopes to benefit from name recognition with models whose history of high performance and consumer satisfaction was established over three decades from the 1960s through the 1980s.

The new Regal will be a front-drive sedan assembled in Germany and is, in actuality, a re-badged five-passenger Opel Insignia. The model will go on sale in the United States during the second quarter of 2010.

Craig Bierley, director of product and marketing, said, "If there was ever a performance Buick in the last 30 years, it was the Regal. Whether it be a Grand National, a GS, a GNX, it was always our performance brand."

The Opel version of the new Regal, which has been in production and on sale in Europe for a year, has gathered an impressive number of accolades including European Car of the Year.

The changes to the vehicle when it appears in the U.S. will be largely cosmetic, mainly the addition of Buick's waterfall grille, the front headlamp design, and some aspects of the interior trim.

Buick hopes to further its efforts to rejuvenate its brand name with the introduction of the Regal, which it hopes will attract younger buyers and go head-on-head with the Acura TSX, Audi A4, and Volvo S60.