Not your father’s Buick

NEW YORK – General Motors Corp.’s Buick division hopes to build on its design-led resurgence – epitomized by the Buick Enclave crossover – with a new concept vehicle and new ads starring Tiger Woods.

Ed Welburn, GM’s vice president of global design, said Tuesday that the new concept, the Invicta, will debut next month at the Beijing Auto Show. Welburn showed only a broad outline of the design, but said it builds on the sweeping styling and classic waterfall grille of the Buick Riviera concept coupe unveiled last year at the Shanghai Auto Show.

Welburn said the Invicta will show even more clearly than the Riviera the design direction of Buick. He also hinted the Invicta could signal the entry of a coupe into Buick’s lineup.

The Invicta, like the Riviera, was developed jointly by GM design teams in North America and Shanghai. Buick is GM’s most popular brand in China, with domestic sales of 332,115 vehicles in 2007, up 9 percent from the year before.

Buick also showed a new television ad starring Woods, a longtime Buick pitchman. In the ad, Woods hits paint-filled golf balls onto a canvas, creating a Jackson Pollock-like work of art.

Buick plans to auction off three of the canvases Woods created starting in June at the Buick Open golf tournament. The money will go to charity.