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Buick has been positively welcomed in China as a rival to Lexus and other established luxury brands. And at the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show, Buick release its amazing Buick Business MPV concept, which was intended to target China’s upper class. Unlike the handsome Buick Riviera Concept we saw at Shanghai a couple of years ago that was built in collaboration with GM's Chinese and American operations, the new Business concept has been penned and engineered completely by GM's Pan Asian Technical Automotive Center (PATAC).
While the Buick Business may not appear to be much from the outside apart from an MPV with a Buick grille slapped on the front, the old adage of not judging a book by its cover comes into play when you learn what the vehicle holds in store for its occupants - namely a mobile boardroom.
Inside the concept viewers will find rotating seats that can face one another, tables and other features to help the concept live up to its 'Business' moniker. Capable of holding up to six passengers, the car also features some flashy electric sliding doors, 20in wheels (presumably to intimidate any potential business partners) and a glass roof.
Driven by a 2.4L four-cylinder engine, the Business concept also features an electric motor, as is now the norm these days with major manufacturers, to represent Buick's commitment to electric power and saving the environment. In this vein, the concept also features a stop-start system and regenerative braking.
While it’s unlikely this sort of vehicle will ever make it to the U.S., Buick is big business for GM in China. Thus, there is speculation that this concept may just be the beginning point, or a general design direction, for a number of Chinese built and designed vehicles for that market.
One of the most exciting cars from January’s Detroit Auto Show was the Cadillac Converj concept car, which General Motors used to showcase its plug-in hybrid technology in a luxury platform. Despite the concept featuring one of the most striking designs we’ve seen in a while, GM vice chairman Bob Lutz said it was designed so that any eventual production version would look “exactly like” the show car, hinting that we may eventually see such a car in showrooms. 
The company’s financial state, however, says the opposite, but there remains a chance the Converj may make it out of the economic storm. GM in its viability plan presented to Congress in February outlined plans for two new plug-in hybrid vehicles, and today MotorTrend is reporting that the stylish concept has been given the green light for production.
According to an inside source, the new model will be on the road by 2011 if GM’s financial situation improves. The car would be based on the same Delta platform as the upcoming Chevrolet Volt, and power would also come from the same Voltec plug-in hybrid system. The source also revealed that a seven-seater MPV plug-in hybrid was in the pipeline – already previewed by the 2008 Chevrolet Orlando concept.
The Cadillac plug-in hybrid would feature extra batteries to power a higher-output electric motor than the one in the Volt. The styling of the vehicle would also be slightly different to the Converj concept as much of internal structure, such as the firewall, would need to be sourced from the taller Volt.
GM has consistently stated that its Voltec plug-in hybrid system would be used in other models to spread the investment costs as much as possible, and reports of a Cadillac plug-in hybrid date back as far as last August.
Source from: http://www.motorauthority.com/report-cadillac-converj-headed-for-production.html
