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2024 Buick Envista revealed as a good-looking, quite-affordable crossover 'coupe'

Buick has a new entry-point for the brand, the 2024 Envista. The new model shares much with its mechanical twin, the Chevy Trax, including a very low base price of less than $24,000. But as you can see, it skips the traditional crossover shape for a more coupe-like roofline. Unsurprisingly, the Envista gets the Wildcat EV design language with a big, frowning grille and scowling LED lights. In profile, it looks longer and lower than the Encore GX, but not just because of the roofline. It's less bulky around the wheel arches, and the ends aren't so blunt and bulbous. Three trims are available for the Envista, and they have some design distinctions. The base trim is the Preferred, and then there are the ST and Avenir trims. The ST is pictured at top with its dark grille and black-painted fender flares, mirror caps and 18-inch wheels. The Avenir (pictured below) gets body-color trim and a bright metal grille and matching 19-inch wheels. 2024 Buick Envista Avenir View 9 Photos Inside, the Envista looks very much like the Encore GX. The dash design is nearly the same, save for slightly different upholstered panels and screen surrounds. It has the same 8-inch instrument display and 11-inch infotainment touchscreen. Trims get different topstitching, with the ST getting swoopy blue stitches, and the Avenir getting more toned-down, more geometric gray stitching. Cargo space comes in at 20.7 cubic feet behind the rear seats, and 42 cubes with them folded. The Envista uses the Trax platform, and that means it comes with only one powertrain: a turbocharged 1.2-liter three-cylinder. It makes 136 horsepower and 162 pound-feet of torque. The only transmission is a six-speed automatic, and it only sends power to the front wheels. Two suspension setups are available, one of which is a simple torsion beam, and the second adds a Watts linkage. The latter comes on all Avenirs with 19-inch wheels. As with Trax, pricing is very affordable, with the base Preferred starting at $23,495, including destination fee. The ST rises to $25,195, and the Avenir tops the range at $29,695. That puts about $3,000 of space between the Envista and the Encore GX at every trim level. Orders open for the Envista this summer. Related video:

Little-bit-bigger 2020 Buick Encore GX gets two three-cylinder engines

Ford broke the ice on selling three-cylinder engines in the U.S. with the 2014 Fiesta, then followed up with the EcoSport. Buick is about to widen that supermini-sized crack in the ice with the 2020 Encore GX. The semi-subcompact crossover will come in three trim levels that mix-and-match two turbocharged three-cylinder engines, two transmissions, and two drivetrains. The smaller engine is a 1.2-liter three-pot with 137 horsepower and 166 pound-feet of torque. This comes in one horse and 18 lb-ft of twist beyond the 1.4-liter four-cylinder in the smaller Encore. This engine will only be paired with a CVT and front-wheel drive in the Preferred, Select, and Essence trims. The meatier motor is a 1.3-liter three-cylinder with 155 hp and 174 lb-ft. That's down on the 163 hp and 177 lb-ft that the same engine produces in the Chinese-market version of the Encore GX. However, it gets buyers close to the 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that used to be optional on the smaller Encore, producing 153 hp and 177 lb-ft. This engine can be optioned on the front-wheel drive Select and Essence trims, where it would be mated to the CVT. The 1.3-liter three-cylinder is standard on all trims optioned with all-wheel drive, where it gets paired with GM's nine-speed automatic. GM does say the horsepower figures are estimates at the moment, so don't be surprised at any slight changes before deliveries begin next year. The Encore GX will serve buyers who would love it if the Encore had a bit more room but don't want to step up to the Envision. For a price GM hasn't announced yet, the Encore GX will reward those buyers with five more feet of cargo space, and some extra power for all those who decide to level up further. The junior Encore weighs just over 3,200 pounds, it's likely the Encore GX will shade that some. The Encore GX does ride on GM's new VSS-F platform, though, so the advanced architecture could provide an overall superior experience even with the lesser three-cylinder. GM has also said that the Encore GX will come standard with safety kit like forward collision alert and lane keep assist with a lane departure warning, features that are cost extras on the Encore. The Encore GX will also include automatic emergency braking, which can't be had on the Encore at any price.

Buick will go sedan-free by killing the Regal after 2020

Pour one out for the Buick Regal. Citing a growing lack of demand, the firm announced it will deep-six its last remaining sedan and its only station wagon after the 2020 model year. Buick spokesman Stuart Fowle told Motor Authority that buyers clearly prefer crossovers and SUVs; so far, nearly 90 percent of the company's 2019 sales have come from high-riding models. In other words, the company's decision to send the Regal to the pantheon of automotive history is business, not personal. "Buick continues to be ahead of the consumer shift towards SUVs," Fowle explained. Autoblog confirmed the decision applies to the sedan, which is available in a sporty GS configuration (pictured) that we praised as "the coolest car Buick has made in years," and the TourX wagon, which attracted Buick's wealthiest buyers and sold far better than the company expected. Its retirement underlines the colossal difficulty of selling a wagon that's not a Subaru Outback in America. View 46 Photos Buick didn't loudly announce its exit from the passenger car market, but it's beating Ford to the punch. The last Cascada rolled off the assembly line earlier in 2019, and the bigger Lacrosse is one of six cars whose retirement was announced by General Motors in 2018. Neither will be replaced, and the odds of seeing another Regal are extremely low. The company's message is clear: Buyers want crossovers and SUVs, so that's what they'll get. As a bonus, axing the Regal will finally allow Buick to end its reliance on former sister company Opel, which General Motors sold to Paris-based Peugeot in 2017. It developed the Regal, and manufactures it in a factory located next to Opel headquarters in Russelsheim, Germany. The Regal will live on elsewhere in the world. Buick will continue to sell it in the Chinese market because motorists there still buy sedans, and Opel/Vauxhall will keep offering its version of the car (called the Insignia) across Europe. The model recently received minor updates inside and out to remain fresh, but it competes in a segment that's free-falling and its days are likely numbered.