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Buick begins offering 24-hour test drives

Even as the year's sales charts show a decline, Buick says its brand image is improving. To bolster that soft metric while it works on overhauling its lineup - consumers are clamoring for more crossovers - the brand will begin offering overnight test drives as of July 23. Buick trialled the program in Phoenix and got a good response, so it rolls out as an ad-supported nationwide campaign called "24 Hours of Happiness" as of July 22. The push is on probation for three months while Buick evaluates it, but they expect it to continue beyond 90 days. Cars will be sourced from the loaner fleets that dealers offer customers whose cars are in for service, so only dealers with such fleets will be able to participate. General Motors did the same thing in 2003 and 2004, at the time saying it led to more than 500,000 "extended" test drives and close to 190,000 sales. That program had a cash component, in that buyers were offered $250 if they chose a non-GM vehicle after their test drive. 24 Hours of Happiness won't come with any inducements; Buick is taking the long view, positioning this as support for the brand instead of as bait for immediate returns. The Phoenix dealer who ran the program first said that it got fewer bites than he expected, but that customers who took a car home "were far more likely to buy the vehicle." Cue the Regal GS hooning in three, two... Related Video:

Buick dusting off Grand National, GNX and T-Type nameplates

Inside Line reports Buick is planning to bring back some of the more storied names from the company's past, including the Grand National, GNX and the T-Type. Those cars rose to prominence in the 1970s and '80s to become performance legends of their day.
The new models will reportedly make use of the rear-wheel drive platform that currently underpins the Cadillac ATS and all would arrive as sedans - according to an unnamed source familiar with the initiative. Odds are the T-Type and the Grand National would share a driveline, with honest money being on a new twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter V6 as the engine of choice. Word has it the mill will be good for anywhere from 350 to 400 horsepower.
That leaves only the GNX. Inside Line seems to think that machine could get down the road with some help from the all-new GM LT1 small-block V8. The engineers behind the ATS platform have already told us the engine bay is large enough for to accommodate the big eight pot, and since GM is most certainly working on an ATS-V, a slightly less powerful, less luxurious Buick iteration makes some kind of sense. We can't wait to see these things in the light of day.

2022 Buick Envision Plus three-row crossover is like an Envision, plus

Buick exited the sedan segment when it axed the Regal, but it's going all-in on crossovers and SUVs. It released a dark preview image that gives us an early look at a three-row family-hauler named Envision Plus. Announced only for the Chinese market as of writing, the Envision Plus is — as its name implies — positioned above the Envision in the company's range, though it's smaller than the Enclave. It's mechanically related to the crossover it shares its nameplate with, but it appears to receive a specific design with a new-look front bumper and a more upright grille. It also wears a boxier silhouette that allowed Buick to add a third row of seats. Extra seating aside, we expect the Plus will offer an interior close to the standard Envision's, which we described as "a scaled-down take on the Enclave's interior" in February 2021. Similarly, Buick will likely offer the Envision Plus with the same turbocharged, 2.0-liter four-cylinder as the smaller model. It produces 228 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque, and it spins the front or the four wheels via a nine-speed automatic transmission. Buick will release more details about the 2022 Envision Plus in the coming weeks, and it will unveil the model at the 2021 edition of the Shanghai auto show opening its doors on April 21. While the company hasn't confirmed plans to sell its latest crossover in its home market, we wouldn't be surprised if it arrives here before the end of 2021. Auto shows were put on hiatus in 2020, at the height of the on-going coronavirus pandemic, and the upcoming Shanghai show is the first major industry event in over a year. In addition to the Buick people-mover, we'll discover Toyota's first global electric car. It will arrive as a near-production concept close in size to the hot-selling RAV4. Related video: 2021 Buick Envision Running Footage