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2018 Buick Enclave spied looking slim in Death Valley

The nine-year-old Buick Enclave is well past its prime, but this set of spy photos reveals that GM won't put the vehicle out of its misery, but will give the vehicle a large update instead. Our photographers managed to catch Buick testing a heavily-camouflaged 2018 Enclave testing below sea level near Death Valley. Buick was testing the prototype in Nevada earlier this year, but slapped a trailer onto the back of the SUV. Thanks to the camouflage that covers the badging, headlights, taillights, and hood, there's no way to confirm if the prototype is really a Buick or something from Chevrolet. But the circular outline on the grille has us leaning towards it being a Buick. Five LED running lights shine through the heavy camouflage, while Buick's iconic waterfall grille is prominently uncovered. The Enclave, which came out in 2008, shares the same platform as the GMC Acadia and Chevrolet Traverse. With the new Acadia slimming down and ditching the old Lambda platform in favor of the Chi platform, the Enclave will surely follow suit. The Enclave, though, is expected to get a stretched version of the Chi platform with three rows. While the entire body is concealed, the prototype's side profile looks to be slimmer than the current Enclave. With the addition of the new, lighter platform, the Enclave is expected to get GM's new 3.6-liter V6 with a nine-speed automatic transmission added later down the road. The new Enclave is expected to make its debut early next year as a 2018 model, which will be followed by the reveal of the Traverse shortly after. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2018 Buick Enclave Spy Shots View 13 Photos Image Credit: Spied Bilde Spy Photos Buick GM Crossover SUV Luxury

GM may have teased a whole group of electric vehicles

During GM's big CES press conference, the automaker highlighted a number of its upcoming electric car-related projects from delivery vans to the upcoming flagship Cadillac Celestiq. In the middle of it all, a collection of mystery cars sat in the background behind speakers. They were in the dark, lit only with their running lights, and while it's possible they're just generic filler cars or concepts, we think they could be future products. Our best shot of the cars together is shown above, and we can pretty easily identify three of the vehicles. In the center is obviously the GMC Hummer EV. On either side of it are Cadillacs. To the left seems to be the Lyriq crossover, and to the right is the Celestiq sedan. Two of these cars have production dates, and the third has been confirmed for eventual production, just without timing. This is why we think the rest of the cars are upcoming models. The next most easily identified car is on the near right behind the Cadillac Celestiq. It very clearly has a Chevy bowtie illuminated in the running lights. And looking closely, it appears to be a pickup truck. It's difficult to make out anything more than that. The nose does look a bit more rounded and swept back than the brick-like designs of the Silverado truck line. That also squares with what seemed to be the upcoming truck that appeared in the background of yet another GM presentation. GM previously said this electric Chevy truck will be a full-size model with up to 400 miles of range. That leaves us with three more mysterious models. Over to the left behind the Cadillac Lyriq are what appear to be a pair of crossovers. The one on the far left looks low, curvy, and possibly with a fastback roof. The one on the right is taller, boxier, and probably more of a full-size people hauler. It's hard to say much more beyond that. They could be new electric Buicks, which would fit in nicely with that brand's crossover portfolio, and would likely be highly successful in China, where Buicks, crossovers and electric cars are all rather hot commodities. As for the mystery car on the far right, it's quite a puzzle. We can at least rule out Buick and Cadillac, and GMC since it's definitely a car, and a rather small one compared with the other cars on display. That leaves Chevy, and possibly the autonomous division Cruise. We're leaning toward it being a Chevy, since the first Cruise vehicle is going to be a boxy pod of sorts.

Buick Envision CUV launches in China, is America next?

Buick is launching its new midsize Envision crossover in China at the Chengdu Motor Show, where it will slot between the subcompact Encore and larger Enclave. While it might be hard to muster too much excitement about a Chinese-market crossover, don't completely ignore this one. There's a very good chance it could be on sale in North America to fill the same hole in the brand's lineup over here, possibly as a 2016 model.
We recently spied the Envision completely undisguised as it was arriving at the Chengdu show for its debut. The CUV still looks like a stretched Encore from some front angles, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's got a similar oversized grille, hood vents (presumably faux) and large greenhouse as its little brother. Where the midsize CUV differs is its prominent crease running down the side and the different rear treatment, with wing-shaped trim cutting into the taillights.
The interior looks like a pretty nice place to spend time, too, with a predictable mix of leather, wood and metal, and it should be quiet in there with its active noise cancelation system. Infotainment is provided by an eight-inch touchscreen with a touchpad and voice controls.