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2019 Buick Regal to get Avenir luxury treatment

Buick will make the 2019 Regal sedan available in its top-tier Avenir trim, the fourth Buick model to carry the sub-brand name after the Enclave, LaCrosse and the GL8 in China. Buick says the Avenir line is selling faster than other trim levels on both the Enclave and the LaCrosse, and that half of all Regal Sportback buyers are opting for the top trim level, reflecting buyers' demand for more premium midsize cars. "Avenir sales have exceeded our expectations," Phil Brook, vice president of Buick and GMC Marketing, said in a statement. "Buick customers value the exclusive styling, premium features and convenient experience Avenir provides, and we are excited to extend that successful formula to Regal." So what's the Regal Avenir all about? Well, Buick will debut its first cloud-connected infotainment system, bringing embedded apps and enabling owners to set up their own profiles and user preferences for use in things like available navigation and voice-recognition, and carry over that profile to other compatible vehicles. The Avenir will come standard with safety and driver-assist technologies such as rear park assist, rear cross traffic alert, lane-change alert with side blind zone alert, LED headlights with auto leveling, cornering lamps and driver-side auto-dimming mirrors. Advanced adaptive cruise control and other active safety technologies are also available. Inside, there's a "Whisper Beige" theme with ebony accents, diamond quilt-stitched front seats, embroidered first-row headrests and sill plates carrying the Avenir script. An ebony theme is also available. The exterior gets a more dramatic look, with the Avenir 3-D mesh upper grille, script badging on the front doors and 19-inch Pearl Nickel wheels. Under the hood is the Regal's standard 250-horsepower 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 260 pound-feet of torque and mated to a nine-speed automatic. Avenir was the name of a four-door concept Buick unveiled as a surprise in 2015 in Detroit. The next year the company announced it would use the name as a top-tier trim level starting with 2018 Buicks. Pricing for the 2019 Buick Regal Avenir will be announced when it arrives at dealers. Related Video:

Refreshed 2019 Buick Envision gets sharper edges, optional nine-speed transmission

After 18 months on the market in the United States, the Buick Envision took its place as the third-best-selling vehicle among Buick's eight models, slotting in behind the Encore and Enclave. January sales this year jumped 13.7-percent year-over-year, just a few hundred behind the Enclave. Now, the Chinese-made compact SUV gets a modest makeover, but buyers of the 2019 Buick Envision will need to reach up into the upper trims to access the best of what's new. The big mechanical upgrade comes with the option of GM's Hydra-Matic 9T50 nine-speed automatic instead of standard the six-speed. However, that appears to be limited to just two of the five available Envision trims: Premium I and Premium II. The base, Preferred, and Essence models stick with the six-speed only. Design changes center around the front and rear fascias. The grille motif switches to a be-winged Buick emblem - in tri-color spec, not monochrome - over the previous waterfall, matching that of the sibling crossovers. The lower front fascia gets redrawn, with the fog lights at the edges now sitting in square recesses with reworked chrome trim and sharper edges on the bumper. Premium trims move up from HID projectors to bi-LED headlights, while the other three trims shed their composite halogens for HID lights. According to the 2019 order guide, Ebony seats with Dark Plum interior accents leave the menu, replaced by Dark Galvanized leather seats with Ebony trim. White interior lighting will illuminate the instrument panel and door trim, replacing Ice Blue, and comfort/convenience tweaks come in the form of wireless phone charging, an cabin air ionizer and a button to shut off the stop-start system. The latter would be a noteworthy upgrade as it's been a common complaint logged against so-equipped GM vehicles. In back, design elements get sharper edges, and the taillights switch to slimmer LED units. Designers have hidden the single exhaust outlet on the lower three trims with the base, 197-horsepower 2.5-liter engine. It appears that choosing the optional, 252-hp 2.0-liter engine will be identified by dual rectangular exhaust finishers instead of the round tips of previous years. Exterior colors hold steady at six, but Midnight Amethyst Metallic gives way to Satin Steel Gray Metallic, and the current 19-inch wheels get replaced with two new designs. The 2019 Buick Envision has already gone on sale in China, and should reach U.S. dealers in April. Related Video:

GM earnings rise 1% as buyers pay more for popular pickups

DETROIT — General Motors said Thursday that higher prices for popular pickup trucks and SUVs helped overcome slowing global sales and profit rose by 1% in the second quarter. The Detroit automaker said it made $2.42 billion, or $1.66 per share, from April through June. Adjusting for restructuring costs, GM made $1.64 per share, blowing by analyst estimates of $1.44. Quarterly revenue fell 2% to $36.06 billion, but still beat estimates. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $35.97 billion. Global sales fell 6% to 1.94 million vehicles led by declines in North America and Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. The company says sales in China were weak, and it expects that to continue through the year. In the United States, customers paid an average of $41,461 for a GM vehicle during the quarter, an increase of 2.2%, as buyers went for loaded-out pickups and SUVs, according to the Edmunds.com auto pricing site. The U.S. is GM's most profitable market. Chief Financial Officer Dhivya Suryadevara said she expects the strong pricing to continue, especially as GM rolls out a diesel pickup and new heavy-duty trucks in the second half of the year. "We think the fundamentals do remain strong, especially in the truck market," she said, adding that strength in the overall economy and aging trucks now on the road should help keep the trend going. Light trucks accounted for 83.1% of GM's sales in the quarter, and pickup truck sales rose 8.5% as GM transitioned to new models of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra, according to Edmunds, which provides content to The Associated Press. As usual, GM made most of its money in North America, reporting $3 billion in pretax earnings. International operations including China broke even, while the company spent $300 million on its GM Cruise automated vehicle unit. Its financial arm made $500 million in pretax income. Suryadevara said GM saw $700 million in savings during the quarter from restructuring actions announced late last year that included cutting about 8,000 white-collar workers through layoffs, buyouts and early retirements. The company also announced plans to close five North American factories, shedding another 6,000 jobs. About 3,000 factory workers in the U.S. whose jobs were eliminated at four plants will be placed at other factories, but they could have to relocate. GM expects the restructuring to generate $2 billion to $2.5 billion in annual cost savings by the end of this year.