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2017 Buick LaCrosse gets Avenir-inspired tease

Stylish touches from the beautiful Buick Avenir Concept are actually hitting the road on the front end of the new 2017 LaCrosse. The brand is showing off this single teaser of a more angular grille surround than what is currently seen on its lineup. In the center there's a three-color version of the well-known Tri-Shield badge. Chrome wings meet at the logo, and vertical chrome bars lead the eye up over the body. A version of this design is eventually becoming part of the entire Buick lineup by 2018. Debuting at the 2015 Los Angles Auto Show in November, the future LaCrosse rides on stronger, lighter underpinnings than the current model. It also gets a five-link rear suspension. The company promises that the changes mean a more engaging drive from the sedan. "The Avenir concept shattered expectations of what a Buick could be and the 2017 LaCrosse promises to do the same," Duncan Aldred, vice president of Buick, said in the release of the teaser image. The show car's look was highly praised by critics when it debuted at this year's Detroit Auto Show. The Avenir even won Eyes on Design awards for Best Designed Concept Vehicle and Innovative Use of Color, Graphics, and Materials. Related Video: Buick Previews All-New 2017 LaCrosse Expressive, Avenir-inspired design cues introduce the new face of Buick DETROIT – Buick today confirmed the all-new 2017 LaCrosse, with a preview of its Avenir concept-inspired design cues. A striking evolution from current Buick models, LaCrosse features a grille design that puts a new face on the brand, including a new, three-color tri-shield insignia set on a wing-shaped element. Contrasting with darkened waterfall grille bars and spanning the width of the opening, it connects the grille and headlamps, and emphasizes LaCrosse's new sculptural surfacing. The design was introduced on the Avenir concept and was inspired by the 1954 Wildcat II concept. It's a face all Buick models will adopt by 2018. "The Avenir concept shattered expectations of what a Buick could be and the 2017 LaCrosse promises to do the same," said Duncan Aldred, vice president of Buick. "Its expressive design represents a break from convention and highlights the progressiveness in all new Buick models." The next-generation LaCrosse's design is framed on an all-new chassis that is stronger yet lighter than the current model and serves as the foundation for a more dynamic driving experience.

GM cutting vehicle trim options to save money for electrification

Information continues to filter out about GM's plans based on comments the automaker made during its Capital Markets Day event in February. GM President Mark Reuss said the company's push to save money by rationalizing the number of build combinations will continue in 2020, carrying on the work done in 2019. As GM Authority covers, last year, the carmaker cut 3,500 components across model lines, a 12% drop in the number of parts it needed to stock in its plants. Reuss used the next-generation Chevolet Equinox and GMC Terrain as examples for more cost efficiencies, saying build possibilities — which include international markets and their options — will be cut by more than 50%, and use more shared parts. "We will reduce total trim levels on Equinox and Terrain from eight to six," Reuss said, "reduce engine variants from 11 to 5, reduce build combinations from more than 200 to less than 100 per program, and see significant cost savings of an already paid-for architecture that took the mass out, helping us self-fund electrification programs." GM will plow a large amount of the money it saves into its ambitious EV program. In 2017, the automaker said it intends to have 20 electric vehicles on the market by the end of 2023, some of which could be shared between brands. An automotive analyst at Seeking Alpha and a piece in Automobile attempted to put specifics to what we should expect. As Automobile points out, the first two EVs in the 20-car program are already on sale, being the Ariv Meld and Ariv Merge eBikes available in Belgium and The Netherlands. We've seen the Cruise Origin autonomous rideshare taxi, although we don't know when it will hit the road. The next three, which we should see in the metal shortly, are two Cadillac EVs and the GMC Hummer EV pickup. The Cadillac pair are expected to be sized like the XT4 and XT5, and along with the Hummer, should hit the market starting in late 2021.

2024 Buick Envista Avenir Interior Review: A real winner from Buick

The 2024 Buick Envista is the first Buick product I’ve driven in recent history thatÂ’s kept me thinking about it for much longer after handing the keys back. Much of that credit is due to Buick pricing it so low, but itÂ’s not like there arenÂ’t other cheap cars out there. The difference, of course, is that the Envista is both affordable and a really good car at the same time. You can read about how effective the tiny and frugal 1.2-liter turbo engine is in our First Drive, or get the full download about the various trims in our Buying Guide, but here IÂ’m going to focus on its impressive interior in its most exemplary form. My test Envista pictured throughout is the Avenir trim, which is the top-shelf, priciest model, and yet it still only starts at $29,695. That feels like a steal in todayÂ’s ever-expensive car market given its size and level of equipment. So, whatÂ’s the catch?  First impressions are wildly positive when I settle into the AvenirÂ’s comfortable, heated leather seats and run my hands along the soft leather of the heated flat-bottom steering wheel. Then I check out whatÂ’s in front of me and notice the dual-screen layout housed cleanly in a single slab in the dash. The 11-inch touchscreen infotainment system is barebones as it gets from a software and user interface perspective, but that simplicity is somewhat refreshing. You get wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, along with good enough hardware that everything runs fluidly and responds quickly to touches. The 8-inch digital instrument panel is verging on being too simplistic in favor of minimalism, though. Many of the typical gauges you might see in a cluster are instead tucked into a menu on the infotainment display, and customization of that cluster screen is similarly limited. ItÂ’s functional, but thereÂ’s room for improvement or at least customization. The Pebble Gray and black two-tone look of this Avenir model is rather dashing combined with the Cinnabar Metallic exterior paint, and “Avenir” being stitched into the headrests is an upper-class touch. Also appreciated is the soft dash in front of the passenger with pretty stitching and an intriguing crease-like pattern in the material. This carries through into the doors and the door armrests, which are also padded, something you donÂ’t get in the brutally hard doors of this carÂ’s platform mate, the Chevrolet Trax.