GM's Chinese hybrid LACrosse:

[Hannah Bell]

http://www.chinacartimes.com/2007/12/17/buick-lacrosse-hybrid-next-year/

The Buick Lacrosse is quite popular with high level executives in China, initially it had sales that could be described as luke-warm...

The Lacrosse will be based on the Aura Green Line Hybrid that was showcased at the Guangzhou auto show earlier this year. The hybrid Lacrosse will be based on a 2.4l engine and will be just $2,400USD more than the gasoline version, the current price of the Lacrosse ranges from 170,000rmb for the basic 2.4 model to 320,000rmb for the top end 3.0l model.

Shanghai GM are the third foreign car manufacturer to launch a hybrid in China, the first being Toyota with their Prius, and the second being Honda with their Civic (the Civic is an imported model) Last week, Chang’an became the first domestic maker to mass produce a hybrid vehicle.

Buick plans to release the Lacrosse Hybrid in time for the Beijing 2008 Olympics...

http://www.chinacartimes.com/2007/12/17/buick-lacrosse-hybrid-next-year/

[alfredo]

1. So Hybrids are good enough for China, but not here.

[elocs]

2. I think this model was introduced in my city--La Crosse.

Here is what I discovered about it on Wikipedia:

The original name was inspired by a Buick concept car of the same name shown in 2000 and also used as a reference to the sport of lacrosse, seen as popular with a younger, more active demographic to which Buick sought to market. However, la crosse means masturbation or swindling in Québecois slang, so it is sold as the Buick Allure in Canada.

I never realized that about the name "lacrosse". My city got the name because the early French thought the Indians were playing a game on the prairie here which they thought looked like lacrosse.