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China's Buick Envista crossover is coming to the United States

Confirming an earlier rumor, Buick has announced that the Envista crossover it unveiled in China earlier in 2022 will travel across the Pacific and land in American showrooms. The fastback-like soft-roader's main mission will be to lure younger buyers into the firm's showrooms. "[The Buick Envista is] already in production in China, off the design of the Buick Wildcat. Getting ready for the United States here as well; just a beautiful addition to the Buick line-up," said General Motors president Mark Reuss during a conference call in November 2022. His announcement asks more questions than it answers. We don't know when the Envista will make its American debut, whether it will be imported from China or built elsewhere, or precisely where it will slot in the Buick range. Enthusiast website GM Authority speculates that we could see the model in time for the 2024 model year and that the lineup will include an upmarket trim level with the Avenir designation. Technical details will be released closer to the Envista's on-sale date. For context, the version sold in China carries a base price of RMB 150,000, which represents about $21,000 at the current conversion rate, and ships with a turbocharged, 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine rated at 181 horsepower and bolted to a continuously variable transmission (CVT). It's available with a pair of 10.25-inch displays (one for the instrument cluster and one for the infotainment system), a surround-sound system, and a sporty-looking appearance package named GS (that should raise some eyebrows from the long-time Buick fans out there). Convincing young motorists to put the Buick brand near the top of their shopping list will be just one of the Envista's tasks. On a secondary level, it also previews the design language that will permeate the rest of the range (including a series of EVs) in the coming years. Related video: Featured Gallery 2022 Buick Envista, Chinese-spec model Buick Crossover

As GM readies Alexa convenience for vehicles, we ponder its dark side

SEATTLE — On the 30th floor of AmazonÂ’s glass tower, in a room with a breathtaking view of downtown Seattle, thereÂ’s a beautiful bed that nobody sleeps in. ItÂ’s near a kitchen nobody cooks in, a living room couch that no one crashes on, a kitchen table that doesnÂ’t host any family meetings. ItÂ’s AmazonÂ’s Smart Home Lab, a place where every Alexa-enabled gizmo the company or its partners can produce is crammed into the same space, ostensibly for Amazon to test. The company invited us there to show us the companyÂ’s vision for consumer products to leverage AlexaÂ’s voice interaction software before taking us down to a demo of its latest implementation in a Buick Encore GX. In this eerie simulacrum of a fantastic luxury apartment, however, nothing went right the first time. ItÂ’s a challenging environment for Alexa to work correctly, our hosts noted, pointing to the fact that there were six wifi networks available for the devices to connect to. In a normal home, one wifi network controls all the devices, who can theoretically sort out for themselves which one youÂ’re actually trying to activate. In the Smart Home Lab, any unmuted Alexa device thinks itÂ’s in charge. Even so, the connected toaster wouldnÂ’t connect. The Fire TV Cube wouldnÂ’t play a song. Our handlers futzed with everything, muting and unmuting devices, repeating commands, making us feel better about our own struggles with similar technologies. If it doesnÂ’t work right at Amazon HQ, maybe itÂ’s not just us! ItÂ’s telling that down on the faux lawn, in between the gleaming Amazon spheres that host a billionaireÂ’s tropical garden and the Day 1 building that the Smart Home Lab resides in, the BuickÂ’s Alexa implementation doesnÂ’t use a “wake-word” at all. The familiar Push to Talk button on the steering wheel, which normally activates General MotorÂ’s own proprietary voice command system, can be set to default to Alexa when that rolls out to GM vehicles in the first half of 2020 via an over-the-air (OTA) update. Given the reluctance of Alexa to respond to its wake-word in the comfort of AmazonÂ’s own lab, we hoped that this was by design. Drivers are already familiar with Push to Talk, and a physical button is more reliable than the vagaries of contemporary voice recognition – not to mention the privacy and accuracy issues involved with always-on mics. Our experience with the not-ready-for-primetime Mercedes-Benz MBUX system is illustrative.

2023 Buick Envision prices up by at least $1,900 over 2022

When Buick uploads the configurator for the 2023 Envision, shoppers will find the mid-sized crossover more expensive than the 2022 model. GM Authority got hold of next year's pricing, revealing that MSRPs will go up by $1,900 on the bottom two trims and $5,810 on the top Avenir trim. The new math, which includes the destination charge increasing $200 to $1,395, erases the discounts that arrived with 2022 Envision pricing earlier this year. Retail cost for the coming Avenir with front-wheel drive after the destination charge will be: Preferred FWD: $34,795 Essence FWD: $38,895 Avenir FWD: $47,055 Adding all-wheel drive means another $1,800 on the Essence and Avenir. Doing the same for the entry-level Preferred means pushing MSRP up by $3,650 because of the $1,850 Convenience Package is mandatory when turning the rear axle.  The $1,900 upcharge for Preferred and Essence entails $1,500 for three years of OnStar and Connected Services, GM making the telematics service standard on the Cadillac, GMC, and Buick lineups as well as the Chevrolet Corvette for next year. That leaves the remaining $400 as a pure model-year price bump. The much larger rise for the Avenir is because it comes with a lot more equipment. For 2023 this trim makes the $1,965 and Technology Package II and $1,450 Panoramic Power Moonroof standard. The Technology Package adds enhanced LED headlights, adaptive cruise control, adaptive dampers, enhanced automatic emergency braking and parking assist, and a rear camera mirror with washer. Those bundles represent $3,415 of the upcharge, adding $1,500 for OnStar takes that to $4,915, leaving $895 as the model-year price bump. The rest should be carryover, save for potential changes to the exterior color menu. If there's any big news for the model next year, it would be the potential arrival of an Envision GX that would add about eight inches of overall length, with two of that between the wheels. Related video: