2004 Buick Rendezvous on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Buick Electra E4 and E4 GS Ultium-based EVs introduced in China

China leads the way with Buick's revival, this month seeing the Trishield brand introduce another Ultium-based EV in two flavors for the Asian market. First comes the Electra E4, the crossover-coupe version of the Electra E5 that emerged from hiding in March. We know the formula — a little lower, a little shorter, a littler wider than the traditional sibling, with a steeper slope in the roof and a much faster backlight. The E4 wears a different front fascia design and touts subtle shifts like a single DRL instead of the dual DRLs on the E5. It goes a bit further with dual spoilers out back, a design trend found on decadent crossovers like the Aston Martin DBX and Genesis GV70 Coupe Concept.  The E4 is touch larger than our Buick Envision, the Chinese Electra about 7 inches longer, an inch wider, and 2.4 inches lower than the Envision, on a wheelbase 4 inches longer. The interiors hew to the design shown in the E5, with a bit more flash added. The same EYEMAX 30-inch, 6K curved screen forms the heart of the Buick Virtual Cockpit. The carmaker says front passengers get 39.9 inches of headroom in the E4, and there is "customer-pleasing headroom and knee space for second-row passengers," everyone bathed in light from the 12.9-square-foot low-radiation panoramic roof. It has 28 bins and cubbies for storage and 15.6 cubic feet of cargo room.  Underneath the skin, the entry-level powertrain has a 65-kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery powering a motor on the front axle making 241 horsepower and 243 pound-feet of torque. Based on China's test cycle, range is estimated at up to 329 miles. For now, the Electra E4 is only available with front-wheel drive.   Then there's the E4 GS, the first EV to merit Buick's Gran Sport designation. It's distinguished from the regular E4 with tweaks like a black diamond grille, black mirror caps, Night Bronze accents outside and in, 20-inch wheels hiding six-piston Brembo brakes on the front rotors, and illuminated sills. The GS starts with the same FWD drivetrain as the plain E4, but adds an AWD trim as well that's powered by a larger 79.7-kWh battery and makes 283 hp and 343 lb-ft. The front-driver can hit 62 miles per hour in 7.6 seconds. The AWD model cuts that sprint time to 6.2 seconds and increases range to an estimated 385 miles. Top speed for both drivetrains is 112 miles per hour.

Third 1987 Buick Regal GNX will be auctioned in January

A member of the 1987 Buick press fleet is hitting the auction block next year and it's a rarified gem: a low-mileage Regal Grand National GNX, serial No. 003 and one of just 547 models built for that year, and the last of the traditional body-on-frame, rear-wheel-drive Grand Nationals. It'll be auctioned at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction in January. The GNX No. 003 was loaned out to publications including Autoweek, Motor Trend and Road & Track, where it racked up around 8,200 miles. "Through it all, a constant sad undertone was the understanding that 1987 was to be the final appearance of the traditional body-on-frame, rear-wheel-drive G-body (which also underpinned the best-selling Chevy Monte Carlo, Pontiac Grand Prix and Olds Cutlass)," reads a the description published on Barrett-Jackson's website. "A totally redesigned W-body Somerset Regal, with front-wheel drive and unitized body construction, was slated to replace the popular midsize Buick in 1988." So Buick opted to make "a Grand National to end all Grand Nationals" with the '87 GNX, partnering with ASC/McLaren to equip them with wheel lip flares, fender vents, 16-by-8-inch BBS rims and more aggressive tires. It left untouched the Grand National's standard Sequential Electronic Fuel Injection 3.8-liter V6 but added a larger Garrett T-3 turbocharger with a ceramic impeller, a larger intercooler, more aggressive fuel, spark and waste gate tables, and a dual exhaust system that boosted output from 235 horsepower and 330 foot-pounds of torque to 276 hp and 360 lb-ft. That was enough, Barrett-Jackson reports, to make the performance coupe quicker and faster in quarter-mile tests than the Ferrari F40 and Porsche 930 Turbo. After making the test-drive rounds in the automotive media, the car sold in 1988 as a brass hat/company official car to Fischer Buick in Troy, Mich. with approximately 8,200 miles on it. From there, it quickly sold to a local resident who drove it very little, and sold it in the spring of 1989. Since 1992, it has reportedly been kept in climate-controlled storage, totally original, unmodified and undamaged, with just 10,790 miles on the odometer today. It recently underwent a complete mechanical service and cosmetic reconditioning. You can check out the listing on Barrett-Jackson here. The first '87 GNX ever produced resides in the General Motors Heritage Collection and No. 002 is at the Sloan Museum in Flint, Mich. Interestingly, another '87 GNX, No.

5 reasons why GM is cutting jobs, closing plants in a healthy economy

DETROIT — Even though unemployment is low, the economy is growing and U.S. auto sales are near historic highs, General Motors is cutting thousands of jobs in a major restructuring aimed at generating cash to spend on innovation. It's the new reality for automakers that are faced with the present cost of designing gas-powered cars and trucks that appeal to buyers now while at the same time preparing for a future world of electric and autonomous vehicles. GM announced Monday that it will cut as many as 14,000 workers in North America and put five plants up for possible closure as it abandons many of its car models and restructures to focus more on autonomous and electric vehicles. The reductions could amount to as much as 8 percent of GM's global workforce of 180,000 employees. The cuts mark GM's first major downsizing since shedding thousands of jobs in the Great Recession. The company also said it will stop operating two additional factories outside North America by the end of next year. The move to make GM get leaner before the next downturn likely will be followed by Ford Motor Co., which also has struggled to keep one foot in the present and another in an ambiguous future of new mobility. Ford has been slower to react, but says it will lay off an unspecified number of white-collar workers as it exits much of the car market in favor of trucks and SUVs, some of them powered by batteries. Here's a rundown of the reasons behind the cuts: Coding, not combustion CEO Mary Barra said as cars and trucks become more complex, GM will need more computer coders but fewer engineers who work on internal combustion engines. "The vehicle has become much more software-oriented" with millions of lines of code, she said. "We still need many technical resources in the company." Shedding sedans The restructuring also reflects changing North American auto markets as manufacturers continue to shift away from cars toward SUVs and trucks. In October, almost 65 percent of new vehicles sold in the U.S. were trucks or SUVs. That figure was about 50 percent cars just five years ago. GM is shedding cars largely because it doesn't make money on them, Citi analyst Itay Michaeli wrote in a note to investors. "We estimate sedans operate at a significant loss, hence the need for classic restructuring," he wrote. The reduction includes about 8,000 white-collar employees, or 15 percent of GM's North American white-collar workforce. Some will take buyouts while others will be laid off.