Since the year 2005, Buick has produced the mid size American automobile known as the Buick LaCrosse. It is available in the form of a four-door sedan and is meant to serve as a replacement vehicle for the Regal and Century models. The namesake of the Buick LaCrosse was a concept vehicle first unveiled in the year 2000.
The production version of the Buick LaCrosse was first unveiled in the year 2004 as a 2005 model. It was meant to replace the popular Century as well as the sporty Regal, both of which were midsize vehicles.
The new Buick LaCrosse model stresses reliability and quality, rather than performance and styling – as is the norm with Buick. The Buick LaCrosse has been the target of some criticism for its overwhelming resemblance to the recent Ford Taurus as well as Buicks of the past decade.
In Canada, the Buick LaCrosse is sold as the Buick Allure. While American cars quite often have different model and marque names in the Canadian market, the case with the LaCrosse / Allure brand is a unique one. The original name was inspired by a Buick concept vehicle and also meant to reference the sport lacrosse; but in Quebecois slang, “la crosse” also has a more negative connotation that Buick wished to avoid.
