2004 Buick Lesabre Custom Sedan 4-door 3.8l on 2040-cars

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Looking back at how and why GM saved Buick

Still uncomfortably fresh in our collective minds is 2008, the year when the US economy tanked, auto sales collapsed, and both General Motors and Chrysler endured federally managed bankruptcies. Then 2009, when, among other draconian measures, the government task forces dictating what they were compelled to do to earn taxpayer financial support ordered thousands of dealers cut and GM to discontinue four of its eight US brands. Three of those chosen for GM's axe were fairly obvious: off-road icon Hummer had become politically incorrect, Swedish-born Saab was a perennial money loser, and product-starved Saturn had sadly sagged after its strong early start. On the other hand, high-volume value brand Chevrolet, luxury Cadillac, and high-profit GMC seemed clear keepers. That left Pontiac and Buick, both boasting strong brand heritage and histories but both languishing at the time with lackluster image and sales. Most believed that "old man's car" Buick would be killed and once-youthful Pontiac and its performance image would be revived. So few understood why when exactly the opposite happened: Buick lived, Pontiac died. One key factor was Buick's long, distinguished history in China. In the early 20th century, many of that country's most influential citizens owned, drove, or were driven in Buicks. By 1930, one out of every six cars on the roads in Shanghai was a Buick. So when GM launched vehicle production at a Shanghai joint-venture plant in 1999, the chosen brand was Buick. Today it remains GM's best-selling brand in that fast-growing market. Another was an appealing new design direction that began with a shapely 2006 three-row crossover concept called Enclave. Inspired by the Buick Velite concept convertible of 2004, its curvaceous "form vocabulary," GM Design vice president Ed Welburn said at the time, previewed coming Buick production car and CUV design. "The body shape flows, like there's wind blowing over it," he enthused, adding that the Enclave concept's richly trimmed cabin foretold "a renaissance in interior design for GM." And when the production Enclave arrived for 2008, followed by platform siblings from Saturn and GMC (and later Chevrolet), it indeed caught the public's eye and started selling well. And once past GM's painful and embarrassing bankruptcy, Buick has been on a major roll. Continuing to sell strongly in China while growing substantially in the US, it has enjoyed four straight years of global sales records.

Poor headlights cause 40 cars to miss IIHS Top Safety Pick rating

Over the past few months, we've noticed a number of cars and SUVs that have come incredibly close to earning one of the IIHS's highest accolades, the Top Safety Pick rating. They have great crash test scores and solid automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems. What trips them up is headlights. That got us wondering, how many vehicles are there that are coming up short because they don't have headlights that meet the organization's criteria for an "Acceptable" or "Good" rating. This is a revision made after 2017, a year in which headlights weren't factored in for this specific award. This is also why why some vehicles, such as the Ford F-150, might have had the award last year, but have lost it for this year. We reached out to someone at IIHS to find out. He responded with the following car models. Depending on how you count, a whopping 40 models crash well enough to receive the rating, but don't get it because their headlights are either "Poor" or "Marginal." We say depending on how you count because the IIHS actual counts truck body styles differently, and the Infiniti Q70 is a special case. Apparently the version of the Q70 that has good headlights doesn't have adequate forward collision prevention technology. And the one that has good forward collision tech doesn't have good enough headlights. We've provided the entire list of vehicles below in alphabetical order. Interestingly, it seems the Volkswagen Group is having the most difficulty providing good headlights with its otherwise safe cars. It had the most models on the list at 9 split between Audi and Volkswagen. GM is next in line with 7 models. It is worth noting again that though these vehicles have subpar headlights and don't quite earn Top Safety Pick awards, that doesn't mean they're unsafe. They all score well enough in crash testing and forward collision prevention that they would get the coveted award if the lights were better.

GM recalling 135,000 SUVs with plastic jacks that can break

General Motors is recalling 135,400 compact crossovers because their emergency jack can break under load. The problem occurs when the jack — which is plastic — isn't positioned correctly as detailed in the owner's manual. This can cause the jack to fracture. If the jack breaks and the vehicle collapses, there's a risk of injury or death, according to an NHTSA recall alert. The recall involves the 2020-22 Buick Encore GX and 2021-22 Chevrolet Trailblazer. A GM test driver discovered the problem when he broke a jack during a durability test on a Trailblazer. GM started investigating in April and found 21 claims of jack failures, including one reported injury. "This jack design may not be sufficiently robust against fractures if improperly or incorrectly positioned on the vehicle frame by the user," a NHTSA safety report said. GM will start notifying vehicle owners July 26. It will provide free replacement jacks that are made of metal.   Featured Gallery 2021 Buick Encore GX View 21 Photos Recalls Buick Chevrolet GM