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Buick Avenir concept struts into Motown

We love auto show surprises, and Buick has already gifted us a sparkly package on the eve of the 2015 Detroit Auto Show. Dubbed Avenir, this four-door concept is said to signal the future of the Trishield brand by previewing a possible flagship sedan. Incorporating time-honored Buick design hallmarks like the sweep-spear profile, Ventiports, and even a subtle boattail rear-end, the four-place sedan is powered by a surprisingly real-world powertrain – namely a next-generation V6 with cylinder deactivation and stop/start, with the most interesting part of the driveline arguably being a "twin-clutch all-wheel-drive system" and a nine-speed automatic gearbox with paddle shifters. Make no mistake, this is a big car. At 204.5 inches long, it's longer than a standard-wheelbase Cadillac Escalade – a span that's emphasized by the car's long hood and waterfall grille – though it's not quite as wide. While clearly a showcar, the beautifully crafted interior looks largely produceable, including attributes like a next-generation 12-inch touchscreen infotainment system and 4G LTE wifi, but we suspect a production car would pick up a third rear seatbelt and give away some of its flowing contours that are said to have been "inspired by nature and sea waves receding on a beach." No word yet on whether there's actually a showroom future for a car like this – it could simply be an exercise designed to test the waters for a next-generation LaCrosse. After all, sedans aren't exactly popular concept fodder these days, especially as crossovers continue to eat into traditional sedan sales in many of the world's markets. However, China still loves the coddling rear seats of a proper four-door sedan (which in this case include silk and bamboo elements), and with a majority of Buick sales happening in the People's Republic, the Asian nation controls the destiny of this General Motors brand. Said another way? Anything is possible, especially with General Motors known to be working on a large flagship sedan for Cadillac already – the Avenir is reportedly based on the same Omega architecture that will underpin the forthcoming CT6. What do you think? Is this a promising direction for the resurgent Buick? Scroll through our gallery, check out the video, and then have your say in Comments.

It looks like Buick is working on a new Regal GS

When Buick revealed its Regal-badged version of the Opel Insignia/Holden Commodore sedan and wagon, it left out one significant model, the GS. The high-performance Regal was missing in action, but these new spy photos seem to indicate one is coming soon. It looks like it will be pretty subtle on the outside. Upon close examination, we can see that each side of the front bumper features a much larger grille than the normal Regal Sportback and TourX. The thick upper borders on the grilles also look like good places for some LED accent or fog lights. These larger grilles appear to be the only significant difference to the front, though. On the sides, there are slightly deeper side skirts than those on a standard Sportback, and the rear bumper looks to be lifted from the TourX, but without the wagon's aluminum cladding. One other indication that this is a high-performance Regal is the car's front braking equipment. We can make out a Cadillac logo on the front brake calipers, which shows that this isn't running standard Regal stoppers. As for what's under the hood, it's tough to say, but we don't think it will use a turbocharged four-cylinder as the previous generation did. Instead, we think it may be using a V6. That's a hard maybe. The base Regal's turbo four makes as much power as the old GS, and although Buick could crank up the boost for more power, it could also make use of the V6 it will offer overseas. In the mechanically identical Commodore, a 308-horsepower V6 will be available along with a 9-speed automatic and the same type of all-wheel-drive system as the Ford Focus RS. This option would make the upcoming GS more powerful than the old one, and the new standard model, plus offer all-wheel drive. We would like to see even more power than 308, since the top-dog previous-generation Insignia OPC had a 325-horsepower V6. Related Video: Featured Gallery Buick Regal GS Spy Shots View 15 Photos Image Credit: Brian Williams Spy Photos Buick Hatchback Luxury Performance Sedan buick regal gs

GM won't really kill off the Chevy Volt and Cadillac CT6, will it?

General Motors is apparently considering killing off six slow-selling models by 2020, according to Reuters. But is that really likely? The news is mentioned in a story where UAW president Dennis Williams notes that slumping US car sales could threaten jobs at low-volume factories. Still, we're skeptical that GM is really serious about killing those cars. Reuters specifically calls out the Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac CT6, Cadillac XTS, Chevrolet Impala, Chevrolet Sonic, and the Chevrolet Volt. Most of these have been redesigned or refreshed within the past few model years. Four - the LaCrosse, Impala, CT6, and Volt - are built in the Hamtramck factory in Detroit. That plant has made only 35,000 cars this year - down 32 percent from 2016. A typical GM plant builds 200,000-300,000 vehicles a year. Of all the cars Williams listed, killing the XTS, Impala, and Sonic make the most sense. They're older and don't sell particularly well. On the other hand, axing the other three seems like an odd move. It would leave Buick and Cadillac without flagship sedans, at least until the rumored Cadillac CT8 arrives. The CT6 was a big investment for GM and backing out after just a few years would be a huge loss. It also uses GM's latest and best materials and technology, making us even more skeptical. The Volt is a hugely important car for Chevrolet, and supplementing it with a crossover makes more sense than replacing it with one. Offering one model with a range of powertrain variants like the Hyundai Ioniq and Toyota Prius might be another route GM could take. All six of these vehicles are sedans, Yes, crossover sales are booming, but there's still a huge market for cars. Backing away from these would be essentially giving up sales to competitors from around the globe. The UAW might simply be publicly pushing GM to move crossover production to Hamtramck to avoid closing the plant and laying off workers. Sales of passenger cars are down across both GM and the industry. Consolidating production in other plants and closing Hamtramck rather than having a single facility focus on sedans might make more sense from a business perspective. GM is also trying to reduce its unsold inventory, meaning current production may be slowed or halted while current cars move into customer hands. There's a lot of politics that goes into building a car. GM wants to do what makes the most sense from a business perspective, while the UAW doesn't workers to lose their jobs when a factory closes.