China's Insignia-based Buick Regal revealed

General Motors has unveiled China's new Buick Regal, and save for some cosmetic changes, it's basically a badge-engineered Opel Insignia. That's by design though, as Buick is GM's top-selling brand in the land of the great wall, and the new mid-size sedan from Opel has the best chance for success donning a Buick logo.

Comparing the Insignia and the new Buick Regal back to back shows that GM simply popped out the Opel grille, got rid of the lightning logo and retrofitted Buick badging for Buick-loving Chinese. The Opel Insignia is a head-turning sedan as it is, and after looking at these official Regal pics, it doesn't look half bad with a Buick grille, either.

The new Regal is scheduled to hit Chinese showrooms in December will arrive with a choice of two powertrains: a 164-hp 2.4L four-cylinder engine and 211-hp 2.0L turbocharged four-cylinder, both of which come standard with a six-speed manual transmission. The naturally aspirated four-banger has a leisurely 0-60 time of 9.8 seconds, while the turbo motor scoots to 60 in 7.8 seconds.

We've been hoping for our own U.S. version of the new Insignia, and recent news of GM product delays could push the next-gen Saturn Aura even further into the future. Meanwhile, China gets a Buick version this year and the new Chevy Cruze, which we may not receive until 2011.