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2012 Buick Verano starting price $23,470

Admin — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 17:12:26 +0000

General Motors has announced pricing for the upcoming 2012 Buick Verano, and the compact luxury sedan looks set to bang heads with the segment’s best. Starting at $23,470 (which includes the $885 destination charge), the base model 2012 Verano is priced to undercut similar offerings from Japan. The Acura TSX, for example, starts out at $30,495, while the Lexus IS 250 will cost you $34,170.

Three trims will be offered on the 2012 Verano, with the top tier set to start at $26,850. All three versions will be powered by a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine, which is rated at 180 horsepower and 171 pound-feet of torque. The standard features list is filled with items such as 18-inch forged alloy wheels, a seven-inch LED touchscreen in the center stack, the Buick IntelliLink system and a host of other products designed to make your commute an enjoyable experience.

Source: General Motors

Buick Envision Concept touches down in Shanghai

Admin — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:07:12 +0000

General Motors has rolled out a new hybrid SUV concept that’s custom tailored for the Chinese market. The Buick Envision SUV Concept rolls together the future of the Tri-Shield’s design language with a fuel-efficient drivetrain to give us all an idea of where brand is headed in the near future. Worked up as a joint venture between Shanghai GM and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center, the Envision borrows the same waterfall grille found on the company’s current stable of products and mixes in a host of angles and curves.

Regardless of whether or not the exterior leaves you cold, plug-in hybrid fans are likely to find something to smile about under the hood. The Envision uses a 2.0-liter direct-injection gasoline engine coupled to two electric motors and an eight-speed automatic gearbox. Power is stored in a lithium-ion battery and the vehicle’s roof wears a solar cell to help recuperate some power.

[Source: General Motors]

Buick Envision CUV concept renderings trickle out ahead of Shanghai

Admin — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 15:59:16 +0000

Back in 2007, General Motors unveiled the Buick Riviera concept at the Shanghai Auto Show. The handsome concept featured a lot of the design cues that we now see every day in the LaCrosse. At the same time, the Riviera showed that The General’s sometimes dowdy Buick brand could rock a coupe as well as the next brand.

Four years later, GM is going back to the two-door at Shanghai, but this time we’re talking about the crossover-like Envision concept. GM tells us that the design illustrates “elegant and smooth exterior that emphasizes its modern styling and contemporary sportiness.” We don’t know about all of that, but the sketches show the Envision could be a very handsome crossover that may suggest us what the next Enclave could look like. The whole gullwing coupe thing is another matter, as the doors look longer than a school bus, and a pillar-less crossover doesn’t sound all that reasonable.

The Envision is also said to include the expected plug-in hybrid technology that is all the rage with concept cars these days. The sketch of the interior, which are showed in the gallery below, is fanciful and not for production. The Envision concept will be officially unveiled at Shanghai on April 18.

[Source: General Motors via China Car Times]

Buick “What Matters” TV spot

Admin — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 12:38:07 +0000

Buick is the brand that, more than any other, is trying to tell the public that times have changed. “Quiet” luxury is in, the marketers say. Buick ad chief Craig Bierley says that Buick is going back to its image roots established in the 1950s and 60s. He describes Buick in those years as the perfect car for the doctor who made house calls. If the doc drove a Cadillac, he would be saying that his rates were to high, Bierley explained. If he drove a Chevy or Dodge, he wasn’t successful enough. Buick conveys authority and taste without showing off.

[Source: Buick via YouTube]

2012 Buick LaCrosse dropping trim levels, V6 available as no-cost option

Admin — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 16:01:05 +0000

For 2012, the 2.4-liter Ecotec engine with eAssist technology will be offered as the “standard” powertrain. We recently had some very limited drive time with an eAssist-equipped LaCrosse (stay tuned for our full impressions), and found the four-cylinder with 182 horsepower and 172 pound-feet of torque to be pleasantly adequate and its highway rating of 37 miles per gallon downright remarkable. eAssist-equipped cars will look no different than other LaCrosses, save the addition of model-specific 17-inch wheels on efficiency-optimized tires and other fuel-saving upgrades not visible from outside the car.

The General’s 280-horsepower direct-injected 3.6-liter V6 will still be made available, complete with the new HiPer Strut front suspension that helps keep torque steer to a minimum, but buyers can now select it as a no-cost option, and also opt for all-wheel drive.

Source: AutoBlog

Officially 2012 Buick Verano

Admin — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 12:38:32 +0000

We’re tempted to go ahead and call the 2012 Buick Verano a “baby Regal,” because the truth is, the two cars are much more alike than you might think. Since the Verano is based off of the Chevrolet Cruze’s Delta II platform (which is relatively large for what General Motors calls a “compact sedan”) the new Buick’s dimensions are awfully close to that of the larger, Epsilon II-based Regal. What’s important to note, however, is that while the Verano is Cruze-based, it uses different materials throughout the interior and it has a totally different look. GM is convinced that there is indeed a market for an entry-level Buick sedan, and the automaker will be showing off its latest creation at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show next week.

[Source: General Motors]

2011 Buick Roadmaster renderings from Top Gear USA

Admin — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 18:59:36 +0000

General Motors has made some excellent cars over the course of its hundred-plus years of existence. As we’re all painfully aware, though, it’s also produced some horribly bad cars. It’s debatable as to when GM’s fortunes really turned south, but many critics point to the early 1970s, when a series of poor decisions led to the automaker’s eventual near demise in 2009.
And so it’s fitting that, when tasked with choosing cars from GM’s often illustrious, often horrendous lifetime, the crew from Top Gear USA chose three models built between the early ’70s and the late ’90s as examples of what the modern-day GM should consider reviving: a 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass, a mid-’80s Pontiac Fiero and a late-’90s Buick Roadmaster wagon. Interestingly enough, only one of those brands is still in existence…

[Source: Top Gear USA]

Review: 2011 Buick Regal CXL

Admin — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 15:26:44 +0000

Haven’t we seen this play called before? Take a well-regarded European model, tweak it for the U.S. market, slap on a badge from a beleaguered North American brand, and hope for a touchdown. Indeed, the Buick Regal conforms to what has become General Motors’ version of the spread offense. Never mind that this wasn’t a winning strategy for Saturn, which tried selling various derivatives of Opel models from The General’s European operations before its demise – GM is back at it with the Regal.

Dredging up a name from the past is a curious move for a brand that wants to reinvent itself to appeal to a younger audience. (Even more curious is that the Regal moniker has dubious value, having been hung on all manner of mediocre and mostly badge-engineered cars over the past four decades.) Yet for all the skepticism inherent in the “new” GM going back to its old playbook, the Regal might actually be the car that makes this offense click.

Officially: 2012 Buick Regal GS unveiled ahead of LA debut

Admin — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 19:28:47 +0000

General Motors left us on the edge of our seats at this year’s Detroit Auto Show when its Buick Regal GS show car was unveiled. A few months later, GM confirmed that the sportier Regal was headed for production, and now, just a short time before the sedan’s official debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show, we have official information and photos of the production-ready car. Ladies and gentlemen, the 2012 Buick Regal GS has arrived.

[Source: General Motors]

Buick Verano compact coming in 2012

Admin — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 20:29:17 +0000

As July’s By The Numbers showed us, American buyers are quick to forget the pain of having to fill up a full-size pickup or SUV when gas prices are in the $4-per-gallon range. Without the guiding hand of Uncle Sam pushing the car-buying public towards smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, consumers are all about being large and in charge in the passing lane. But According to Automotive News, General Motors is keen to the fact that fuel won’t stay cheap forever, and to prepare for a returning tide of buyers rushing to small cars when oil goes sky high again, the company is planning a more diminutive product lineup.

[Source: Automotive News]