GM kills plan for new Buick crossover

       General Motors Co said on Wednesday that it was scrapping plans to produce a Buick crossover sports utility vehicle, just weeks after announcing the product to a flurry of negative reviews.
       Vice chairman Tom Stephens, writing on GM's FastLane blog, said that after previewing designs to consumers during a showcase of the company's future lineup, executives canceled plans to move forward with the mid-sized vehicle.
       "The Buick crossover we showed received consistent feedback from large parts of all the audiences that it didn't fit the premium characteristics that customers have come to expect from Buick,"Stephens wrote."We were all struck by the consistency of the criticism of the compact crossover."
       Some of that criticism was aired on blogs and Twitter posts. GM opened its doors to about 100 consumers last Monday, showing off future models of Chevrolets, Buicks and Cadillacs.
       The automaker -which has embraced use of social networks since its bankruptcy filing and exit - encouraged invitees to use their Twitter sites to post comments about the vehicles on display at the event.
       The Twitter comments about the nowabandoned Buick crossover were not all favourable, said Christopher Barger,GM's director of social networking.
       "They made clear they didn't like the 'Vue-ick'," said Barger in a message to the Associated Press via Twitter on Wednesday."Twitter was a factor, just not the only 1. Also took into account inperson reactions of both consumers &media when they saw it."
       The Buick crossover sport utility vehicle was first announced in Traverse City, Michig an, earlier this month. There were two versions of the car in the works,one with a traditional combustion engine and one with a plug-in rechargeable system that would have entered the market in 2011.
       The plug-in version of the vehicle which had not been named - was orig-inally destined for the Saturn brand,which GM is now selling to Penske Automotive Group.
       The decision to can the Buick was made during an executive committee meeting last Friday, Stephens said, adding that the move was an example of the new GM moving swiftly to make decisions that affect the company's product line and please consumers.
       "In the past this would have been a several-month process involving meeting after meeting of the APB, ASB, and various other acronyms, and also many 'offline'follow-up discussions before a decision was reached and enacted," Stephens wrote."This happened in one day."