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Buick trademarks several variants of Electra name

The Buick Electra was a sometimes-handsome full-size car that sold for decades, but its time came to an end in the early 1990s as the automaker moved toward smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. That will soon change, as Buick and parent company General Motors recently filed for a series of trademarks for the name. Motor Authority reported that GM filed trademark names ranging from Electra E1 to E9. Though Buick unveiled the Wildcat EV concept earlier this year, it is GM’s only brand without a publicly announced electric vehicle. It has said that an Electra EV would be coming to the U.S. but has not confirmed when itÂ’ll arrive or what it will look like when it does. The automaker says its first EV will come in 2024 and notes that it will offer an all-electric lineup in the U.S. and Canada by 2030, though, so itÂ’s only a matter of time. General Motors already trademarked the Electra GS name last month, which could indicate a high-performance variant in the model line. ItÂ’s unclear if Buick will stick to the Electra formula and make a sleek electric car or if it will use the name on a line of electric crossovers, following the rest of its vehicle catalog. GM Authority spotted an electric crossover testing in China in late October, which could be our first look at the automakerÂ’s newest EV.   The Electra will likely ride on GMÂ’s Ultium platform, whatever the form. The architecture underpins the GMC Hummer EV and will carry the upcoming crop of electric SUVs and trucks from Chevrolet and GMC. Related video:

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

Why Mazda did so well and Volvo so poorly in Consumer Reports survey

The poor performances of Tesla and all three domestic automakers got the headlines in Consumer Reports magazine's latest reliability survey, but there were other results that caught our interest. Tiny Mazda notched the biggest gain among the 29 brands included in this year's list, leap-frogging nine spots to No. 3. Buick, which was in the top 10 last year, fell 11 spots to No. 19, the biggest decline of any brand. And then there's Volvo, a brand often vaunted for its quality and reliability, dropping six spots to dead last. What gives? For starters, all three brands benefited or suffered in large part due to their relatively small portfolio of vehicles. So when raves or complaints rolled in for even one particular model, as was often the case, it weighed heavily on the entire brand. That's especially true when it involves a relatively high-volume, hot-selling model such as the Buick Enclave (more on that in a moment). Mazda fared as well as it did despite the CX-3 losing Consumer Reports' influential "recommended" status due to problems with its climate system, including leaks from the condenser and refrigerant unit that triggered a service bulletin from the automaker in late 2016. Deputy auto editor Jon Linkov said that scratch didn't hurt the overall brand, since the CX-9 crossover and MX-5 Miata both jumped up to replace it on CR's list of newly recommended vehicles, thanks to several back fixes Mazda made to both models. For Buick, the redesigned Enclave SUV earned a "Much Worse Than Average" rating after owners reported problems with the new nine-speed automatic transmission it shares with the Chevrolet Traverse as well as some issues with the climate system. There were issues with rough shifting, plus complaints about the torque converter that necessitated fixes to the computer or outright replacement. "Again, similar stuff that we saw with the Traverse: both first-year vehicles, similar powertrains," LInkov said. He said all-new vehicles or redesigns typically fare poorly in CR's reliability survey due to issues that are hard to suss out before vehicles go into everyday use by consumers. The top-selling Encore and Envision fared well, Linkov said, but were outdone by the Enclave's problematic transmission components. The Enclave was Buick's second best-selling model through September at 35,227 units. Then there is Volvo, about which there is one word to sum up its woes: infotainment.