1972 Buick Riviera Base Hardtop 2-door 7.5l on 2040-cars

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The Chevrolet Bolt is headed to China as a Buick SUV

When spy photos of what appeared to be Chevrolet Bolt EV with some minor front- and rear-end updates circulated last week, Autoblog surmised that GM was working on some sort of Bolt-based vehicle — potentially a crossover — to be sold in China as a Buick. We may just have corroboration for that theory. On Thursday, Motor1.com spotted a story published earlier this week on the Chinese site Auto Home which claims that GM has applied to sell an all-electric SUV under the Velite 7 nameplate in China.  There's little differentiating the Velite 7's exterior from the Bolt EV's, apart from bumpers, badges, and a little extra ground clearance. Up front, the bowtie is replaced by a round Buick badge, and the bumper picks up an almost Prius-like appearance thanks to contrasting vertical elements and a thin grille bleeding into the head lights to give it a full-width appearance. Chevy Bolt-based prototype View 16 Photos If the Chinese report is accurate, there is one significant difference under the skin. Per the application, the Buick crossover variant is to be powered by a 174-horsepower electric powertrain. That's down 26 horsepower from the Bolt EV's powertrain, and we can't help but think that a lifted Buick variant might just need every pony it can get.  The needs of the Chinese market are unique, and we're certain GM knows what it's doing if these figures are accurate. We have no reason to believe Buick plans to sell the Velite 7 EV here in the States, though we expect an updated Chevy Bolt eventually, and we wouldn't be surprised if Buick brings something along shortly to fill the void left by the departure of the Regal sedan and its variants.  Related Video:

Hyundai, Buick dealer apologize in wake of Chinese baby social media incident

A very strange story out of China today, as Hyundai and a Chinese Buick dealer were forced to face allegations of using allusions to an infamous child murder on a social media site as a way of promoting the safety features of their respective vehicles.
The original sad tale goes something like this: On March 4, a man reported to police that he had left his infant child in a running Toyota RAV4 while he ran into a supermarket briefly. When he came back out, the vehicle and the child were gone. Later in the week a suspect turned himself in to the police; confessing to them that he had stolen a sport-utility vehicle, strangled the infant that was in it, and then buried the child in the snow.
As you might imagine, the gristly incident was covered massively in the Chinese media. (There was huge public outcry as well, as evidenced by the vigil scene, above.) "Changchun baby abduction" was very quickly amongst the highest ranking search teams of the China's Weibo social media site - an equivalent of Twitter in the English-speaking world.

2024 Buick Envision debuts with family styling, massive interior screen

Buick showed us the 2024 Envision in a single image nearly a year ago, and while the wait’s been a long one, we now have all the details on this crossoverÂ’s thorough refresh. And yes, even though weÂ’re already rather deep into 2024, this refresh is indeed for the 2024 model year Envision. The big changes outside are plenty visible at first glance as you see the Wildcat EV-inspired front end thatÂ’s been splashed across BuickÂ’s SUV lineup. The Envision looks largely similar to before around back, though Buick notes itÂ’s using new badging on the rear fascia. Plus, new 20-inch wheels are standard on both the ST and Avenir trims, while the base Preferred trim makes do with 18s. Its powertrain is all carryover, which means the only engine option is a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that sends 228 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque through a nine-speed automatic transmission. One difference for 2024, though, is that all-wheel drive is made standard, eliminating the cheaper FWD versions. BuickÂ’s most substantial changes are inside the 2024 Envision. It features a standard 30-inch display that stretches across the dash encompassing the instrument cluster and the infotainment screen. This also means it has a new center stack and center console design that better fits this massive display. Many of the hard climate control buttons are eliminated from the center stack, but some key, often-used toggles remain for easy use. The button-operated “shifter” layout on the center console is gone, too, replaced by GMÂ’s column shifter slowly making its way across the entire General Motors lineup. In its place is a massive, shiny volume knob and additional storage capacity. As for luxuries and styling, the Envision adds new red/black and gray/blue interior color combos, and the front seats themselves are new to be more comfortable than before. Ambient lighting is added to the cabin, and Buick says itÂ’s upped the trim quality on the center console. If you opt for the ST, you get a flat-bottom steering wheel for a sportier appearance, too. More driver assistance features are being made standard for 2024, though Super Cruise is not one of them despite it being initially touted as one of the new technology items coming to the Envision this year. When queried about its absence, a Buick spokesperson told us this: “The 24MY Envision will no longer debut with Super Cruise, but we plan to bring it to Buick vehicles soon.