Picture this: you're trying to liven up a brand that's renowned for appealing to pensioners and being a GM division. There's a limited budget to develop a new model. But wait, over the ocean there's a very sleek Opel sedan that no one in America knows about. Why not put a Buick badge on it and call it the new Regal.

This is the position that America's Buick brand found itself in recently and it has made the most of product- and technology-sharing by basing its new mid-sized sedan on the Opel Insignia.

Just released ahead of the LA Motor Show (although it has been on sale in China, where Buick is very popular, for almost a year), GM officials are already boasting about its European-tuned chassis, which "delivers a driving experience that rivals the best import sport sedans in the segment."

"The 2011 Buick Regal is like nothing you've ever experienced from this brand," said Susan Docherty, general manager of Buick GMC.

"The Regal is the next chapter in Buick's transformation and will expand the portfolio to include a sport sedan."

Translated into English, that basically means "take those combs out your socks, gents, Buick is now an exciting brand". But wait, wasn't Pontiac meant to be the 'sporty' brand? No worries, Pontiac's just been killed off.

An interesting aspect of the Regal is that it ditches American obsession with cubic capacity ? both available engines have four cylinders, with the base unit using a 2.4-litre direct-injection engine and the range-topper being a 164kW, two-litre turbo.