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Buick tops in Consumer Reports' annual brand rankings

Buick is the first US-based automotive brand to crack the top 10 in Consumer Reports magazine's annual brand report cards. US automakers also placed three vehicles on the magazine's list of "top picks" for vehicles, the first time that's happened in 17 years. The rankings were unveiled Tuesday in the magazine's annual auto issue. Buick placed seventh in the brand rankings. But the brand rankings and top picks still were dominated by Japanese and German manufacturers, with Lexus, Mazda, Toyota, Audi and Subaru taking the top five brand spots. The magazine calculates each brand's overall score with a composite of its vehicles' road-test scores and reliability scores for each model in its annual survey of subscribers. It's the third year for the brand rankings. Porsche placed just ahead of Buick at number six, while Honda, Kia and BMW rounded out the top 10 brands. Mercedes-Benz, Acura and Infiniti all suffered precipitous declines in their rankings due to unreliable new models or poor road test scores. Mercedes fell out of the top 10 to 21st, while Acura dropped from number two to 11 with an unimpressive test of the new RLX sedan, the magazine said. In the model rankings, the top overall finisher was California-based Tesla's Model S electric car, for the second year in a row. The Model S, which cost the magazine $89,650, finished first due to its performance and technical innovations, the magazine said. Buick's Regal midsize car beat the BMW 328i as the top sports sedan, and the Chevrolet Impala was named the top large car. The model rankings show Consumer Reports' favorite among the 270 vehicles its team has recently tested. The rankings are closely watched in the auto industry, since shoppers consistently cite Consumer Reports as a main source of car-buying advice. Other top picks included the Subaru Impreza in the compact car category, Subaru Legacy in midsize cars, Toyota Prius as the best green car, Audi A6 luxury car, Subaru Forester small SUV, Toyota Highlander midsize SUV and the Honda Odyssey minivan. Japanese vehicles won six of 10 top pick categories, but that was the smallest number in the 19-year history of Consumer Reports top picks. "For years domestic automakers built lower-priced and lower-quality alternatives to imports, but those days are behind us," said Jake Fisher, the magazine's director of automotive testing. But other U.S.-based automakers still had problems.

Buick teases 'groovy' EV concept to debut this summer

Buick has been taking its slow, deliberate steps toward joining the General Motors EV club in the U.S. There was the Electra concept shown at Auto Shanghai way back in 2020. There was the mystery Buick fastback concept that showed up in GM's promotional vid for the Ultifi software platform in October 2021. Then GM applied to reserve the Electra name in Canada in December, and last month applied to reserve the Velite name in the U.S. Now Buick drops this, a tease for an electric vehicle that will debut this summer. The surprise came in the midst of call-and-response tweets between GM and its brands, the mothership asking, "Hey @Cadillac @GMC @Chevrolet @Buick @GMFleet @BrightDrop — your new boss needs a new ride. Which one of you has the best vehicle to serve my EV-il needs?" The Tri-Shield brand responded with this image and the caption, "WeÂ’re fans of all @GM EVs, but this summer we will show you our dreams of a groovy electric future. ? WeÂ’re sure a mastermind who makes his own quasi-futuristic clothes will be impressed." WeÂ’re fans of all @GM EVs, but this summer we will show you our dreams of a groovy electric future. ? WeÂ’re sure a mastermind who makes his own quasi-futuristic clothes will be impressed. ? https://t.co/7r3Czy8CXV pic.twitter.com/e1XzwFEVsJ — Buick (@Buick) February 13, 2022 The "mastermind"-slash-seamstress reference is looking at GM's villainous Super Bowl ad featuring Dr. Evil, his closest councilors, his son and Baby Me (R.I.P. Verne Troyer). GM's got 30 EVs on the way by 2025 for global markets, and it has begun to fill in the blanks in the U.S. for all its brands but Buick. Based on the automaker's 2019 Sustainability Report, we're expecting a Buick crossover and an SUV by 2025. If the tweeted image is of a people-hauler, it's the swoopiest crossover we've laid eyes on in some time. The rune-like DRL topped by brightwork and chiseled clear panels sits at the corner of a hood that looks like it could have been borrowed from a C7 Corvette. Frankly, this reminds us more of the Buick-branded fastback sedan in the Ultifi video than anything else we've seen. And we have no problem with any of this. As for the Velite trademark application, that could be Buick transplanting a little bit more of its Chinese operations to the U.S. Buick sells a Velite 7 electric crossover, Velite 6 EV and PHEV crossovers, and a Velite 5 PHEV sedan in China.

2014 Buick Regal GS AWD

"This is just silly," I said as I laughed my way sideways around the icy track at Circuit ICAR, a racecourse, drag strip and kart track at the Montreal-Mirabel International Airport in Quebec. It wasn't the activity that had me cracking up, though. After all, winter driving experiences aren't uncommon in this business.
No, in this particular case, it was the car that had me chuckling. I wasn't in a mad hot hatch or a rally-derived rocket - I was in a Buick. The 2014 Regal GS, to be more precise. Somehow, despite its recent product renaissance (not to mention its distant - yet storied - history of performance models), I was having a hard time believing that this attractive, turbocharged, all-wheel-drive sedan sliding around the Great White North could possibly be wearing a Tri-Shield badge on its nose.
But it was, and slide about it did. While having access to a vehicle in this setting is fairly rare, what's rarer is the fact that I've had so much exposure to it. In Mr. Ewing's recent Volkswagen Golf R drive story, for instance, his ice capades were his first experience with the new model. In my case, though, I was lucky enough to first test the refreshed Regal GS for a week back in December before flying to Quebec to drive it on the snowy, icy, winding roads of Canada's most fiercely independent province and on the track at Mirabel.