GM has recently figured out that different parts of the world like different slices of Americana, and perhaps these areas are where it can get the best ideas to its reinvigorate brands all over the globe, even in the U.S. Today, General Motors introduced the Buick Riviera concept at the Shanghai Motor Show and says this is the look of Buick’s new global design direction.

Yes, that means future U.S. Buicks will start to look like this in the near future. We’ve already seen enlarged grilles on the 2008 Lucerne and LaCrosse as well as on the upcoming Enclave crossover. Now, GM’s Asian design studio will take the reins of the future of Buick’s style, with a catchy blurb from a GM exec: It’s not East, not West…It’s Buick.

As for the Riviera, it looks a little too compact for American tastes. The last Riviera rolled off the line in 1999, and even if it wasn’t enjoying the mass popularity of it’s heyday, it always maintained a distinct look from the competition. The concept is powered by a new hybrid powertrain that will end up in a future production car — although probably not the Riviera — to debut in China prior to the 2008 Olympics.

The Riviera concept is a radical look and we haven’t wrapped our heads around it quite yet. Check out the pictures below and let us know what you think in the comments.

General Motors has released new photos of the Buick Riviera Concept, which reminds us that we are that much closer to getting our first up-close look at this concept designed in China. The Riviera, which made its debut at the Shanghai Motor Show last year, will make its first North American appearance in Detroit in just a few days.

Designed at GM’s Pan Asia Technical Center, the Riviera will supposedly set the tone for the next generation of Buick vehicles. Design highlights include carbon fiber bodywork, gullwing doors, and a futuristic interior with blue ambient lighting. We doubt much of that will ever make into a production vehicle, but we do give two thumbs up to the team that designed the exterior.

GM said the Riviera has been engineered to accommodate a new hybrid system that will go into production at Shanghai GM, GM’s flagship joint venture with SAIC, in 2008.

The Buick Riviera concept was designed in China at the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center and showcases the GM brand’s new global design direction.

The Chinese design staff studied Buick icons, including the original Y-Job Concept of 1938 and Riviera coupes from the 1960s as they came up with their own interpretation of the storied nameplate.

Gullwings are the unexpected element in the 2+2 Buick Riviera concept coupe, which also gets 21-inch 10-spoke forged aluminum wheels and carbon-fiber body panels. Side mirrors are derived from those on Formula 1 cars.

Details in the cockpit of the Buick Riviera concept include electronic shifter pads that replace the traditional transmission shifter, leather bucket seats and ambient light stripes in the cool shade of Chinese jade stone.

One of the most celebrated names in the history of General Motors’ Buick brand is back – at least in concept form.
Company officials aren’t ready to say whether a production version of the prototypeRiviera is coming, but they acknowledge that some of the key design elements of the show car debuting Friday, at the Shanghai Motor Show, will directly reappear in upcoming Buick products.

“We have a pretty big shoe to fill,” said James Shyr, design director at PATAC – the Shanghai-based design and engineering center that played a lead role in the development of the new Riviera concept – referring to the high-styled coupe, which was sold, in various interpretations, from 1963 to 1999. “The name is legendary. It’s an iconic vehicle.”

Past versions of the Riviera, such as the boattail model, marketed in the early 1970s, were considered among the most striking and influential products of their era. The new Riviera concept lifts a variety of classic cues, including the traditional Buick portholes, on the front fenders. But the “Shell Blue,” two-door prototype is anything but retro.

Overhead, two large glass roof panels provide a visual link to the outside world. Two oversized gullwing doors, measuring 77 inches at their widest, provide easy access for both front and rear seat. Instead of the clamshell-style headlights introduced in the mid-1960s, the high-tech headlamps of the new show car appear to float above a modern interpretation of Buick’s classic waterfall grille.

Lighting is, in fact, something that the PATAC design team focused a lot of attention on. A thin accent light flows down the center of the hood, drawing a viewers eyes to the backlit Buick “tri-shield” emblem mounted in the center of the grille. A similar badge is mounted in back. Open the gullwing doors and puddle lights illuminate the ground, spelling out the word, “Buick.”

Inside, controllable lighting would allow a driver to accentuate a variety of different moods. The cabin has a flow-through feel to it, starting with the softly curved instrument panel that links to the twin rear seats by a metal-accented center console that runs the length of the interior. Buick engineered in an array of high-tech system, including an unusual gear shifter “for the 21st century,” suggested Shyr, which operates something like a computer mouse.

The gauge cluster is likely to trigger a sense of déjà vu among long-time Riviera fans, but its three-dimensional form is clearly modern. A large LCD screen crowns the central console, with its touchpad controls.

The body is also high-tech, made out of carbon fiber which not only lightens the gull wing doors – making them easier to operate – but which PATAC technicians claim was easier to form the Riviera concept’s mix of flowing and sharp-edged shapes. The compact mirrors, meanwhile, were influenced by Formula One race cars.

Though Shyr noted that the Riviera concept is a “runner,” the automaker declined to discuss the powertrain used in the prototype; nor would they discuss what they might have in mind for a production vehicle.

Sitting on 21-inch wheels and tires, with a 112.9-inch wheelbase and measuring 185.4 inches overall, the Riviera concept would likely translate into something in the mid-size range, and almost certainly have a rear-wheel-drive powertrain configuration. That’s a direction in which GM has been returning lately, reflecting trends in luxury market, where Buicks past competed.