1965 Buick Riviera Sports Coupe on 2040-cars

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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.

Buick, GMC making OnStar Connected Services standard

The thing about the future is that so long as you're alive, you're going to get there whether you like it or not. Thanks to over-the-air connections essentially being a compulsory part of EV ownership and an increasingly important — and profitable — component of ICE ownership, it's easiest for automakers to install full-featured Internet connections in every vehicle. GM has taken the first step, a report in GM Authority saying that as of June 2, all Buick and GMC models are sold with the Onstar Connected Services plan good for three years. The OnStar site shows the Connected Vehicle tier that comes with a Wi-Fi hotspot costs $24.99 per month, which would be $900 minus a few pennies for three years. At the top end is OnStar Premium that runs about $1,800 for three years. Both include Connected Services features, yet GMA reports that depending on the vehicles, OnStar Connected Services will cost between $905 and $1,675. Only the GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 is excluded for now. GM confirmed the change to GM Authority, saying, "This offering provides our owners with a full suite of OnStar and Connected Services for three years, providing them with more time to enjoy services such as remote key fob, Wi-Fi data and OnStar safety services. By including this plan as standard equipment on the vehicle, it provides more customer value and a more seamless onboarding experience." Three trims of the GMC Sierra 1500 and two trims of the GMC Yukon and Yukon XL come in at the low end, OnStar adding $905 to their MSRPs. Almost every other vehicle gets hit with a $1,500 charge. The GMC Sierra HD Pro is the only model to charge $1,675 for it, which GMA breaks out as a "$1,500 3-year subscription and $175 OnStar & GMC Connected Services Capability." This brings up the question of the price differences; we can't tell if there's a difference in feature content between the price tiers, or why the Sierra HD gets the extra $175 fee. The automaker told GMA the upcharge will be folded into the MSRP. On the configurator for the Sierra 1500 SLE, for instance, the dialog box for three years of OnStar at $1,500 is automatically checked and can't be unchecked. The Buick configurators we tried don't mention OnStar.

Junkyard Gem: 2000 Buick Regal GSE

Except for a break from 2005 through 2010, and an indefinite break after this year, The General has been selling the Buick Regal since the 1973 model year. From 1988 to 2005, the Regal rode on the same GM W-Body front-wheel-drive platform as the Chevy Impala and Pontiac Grand Prix, and some of the more interesting W Regals came with ever-hairier versions of GM's supercharged Buick V6 engine. These Eaton-blown Regals were big, comfortable and quick, but they've nearly disappeared from roads by now. I found this 2000 GSE, the kingliest Regal of that year, in a Colorado self-service yard last month. Some junkyard shopper had already grabbed the Eaton M90 blower from this car by the time I got here, because everyone wants a blower or nine stashed in the garage (I have five at the moment). If you're looking to junkyard-supercharge your AMC Pacer wagon race car and use a Soviet truck carburetor for fuel delivery, the Eaton M90 is about the easiest to remove from the junkyard and the easiest to rig up on the car. This engine made 240 horsepower when new, giving the Regal GSE quarter-mile times below the 15-second mark. The price of the 2000 Regal GSE started at $25,300, or about $38,640 in 2020 dollars. You could get the same engine engine and chassis with the Pontiac Grand Prix GTP sedan for $24,610, giving you near-identical performance and a sportier (but less dignified) look. Buick didn't bother making a manual transmission available in any North American W-Body Regal after the 1993 model year. This reduced the fun level in these cars, but probably spared owners a lot of broken axles, CV joints, and hubs. This car has the optional Monsoon speaker system, also found in some Volkswagens of the same era. Apparently Monsoon systems for home computers were all the rage during the early 2000s. Did the Oshawa plant lift that "One grade only and that the best" slogan from the Canadian Corps in Passchendaele in '17? It sounds like a Commonwealth slogan of an earlier era. This car looks pretty good inside and out, but most Colorado buyers seeking a powerful used four-door these days seek out trucks. It doesn't take much of a mechanical problem (or accumulation of parking tickets) to doom a car like today's Junkyard Gem. So many features!