2016 Buick Encore Leather on 2040-cars

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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.

Buick's big boxy crossover design sketch looks surprisingly good

The current Buick lineup is fairly bland, consisting solely of amorphous crossovers in small, medium, and large. Fortunately, the brand is showing signs of life at the General Motors design studio with new products like the Envista, and where designers have envisioned (no pun intended) a large, boxy vehicle that looks like a Kia EV9 competitor. The unnamed premium crossover was penned by designer Geoffrey Richmond and has a well-defined profile with a traditional SUV's squarish greenhouse. It could portend the next-generation Enclave, which shares a similar fishhook headlight design. However, the illustration's front end is a lot more cohesive, with foglamp housings that meet at the outer edges of the headlights.  The front end has sort of the Tesla EV duckbill thing going on, but a wide lower intake indicates that there could be an engine under the hood. In any case, this is just an ideation so there may not even be a platform to put this body on yet. That would be a shame, as the Enclave has been out since 2018 and could use a makeover. The V6-powered crossover was supposed to reposition the brand, and we found it quiet and surprisingly comfortable in our review. However, that hasn't been enough to catch on with trendsetters — Enclaves are rarer than Bentleys here in L.A. The "bar of soap" crossover trend is over. Nowadays, for better or worse, buyers want aggressive, rugged looking crossovers even if they're just going on a Target run. A bold design like the one Richmond painted might change the Enclave's fortunes. And maybe they can bring back the portholes. Related video: 2024 Buick Encore GX Nalgene water bottle test

Restyled 2014 Buick Regal adds AWD, Regal GS loses power

Although the current Buick Regal hasn't even been on the market for very long, General Motors is using the New York Auto Show to unveil an updated version of the sedan in a similar fashion to what we saw yesterday with the 2014 LaCrosse. Like the LaCrosse, all 2014 Regal models will be getting a new look both for the exterior and interior design, but the big news takes place under the sedan's skin.
Except for the base Regal eAssist, the Regal Turbo and Regal GS will both be adding the benefit of all-wheel drive, but there is no word as to how much weight this system will add to each car's curb weight. The Regal Turbo's 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder has received a decent bump in output from 220 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque to 259 hp and 295 lb-ft; unfortunately, these same figures are carried over to the Regal GS, which means that car drops from 270 hp. Both turbocharged models (Regal Turbo and Regal GS) will now be offered with all-wheel drive and the ability of sending more than 90 percent of the engine's torque to the rear wheels.
In terms of styling, the 2014 Regal gets similar styling changes found on the updated Enclave and LaCrosse, including reworked fascias, scalloped headlights and a full-width chrome strip spanning between the new LED taillights. Inside, key changes were made to the Regal's cabin technology, such as the instrument gauge cluster and infotainment system. On the Regal and Regal Turbo, a new 4.2-inch color display is available for drivers to see information for the vehicle, navigation and audio systems, but the Regal GS' cabin is slightly different with an eight-inch configurable gauge display. One of the best changes may be the overall reduction in buttons on the center stack, creating a cleaner-looking and easier-to-use cabin.