The Buick Regal is based on the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia, a pair of sedans from General Motors' European and British outfits. In fact, over 46,000 Regals from model years 2010 and 2011 were screwed together on the same lines as the Insignia twins, before GM's Oshawa, Ontario factory took over production fully. Considering this closeness, rumors that claim the next-generation Regal – due for 2017 – could move back to Europe aren't terribly surprising. Here's why, according to Automotive News.Oshawa is home to three other vehicles, aside from the Regal – the Chevrolet Camaro, Impala rental queenand the Cadillac XTS. We already know next-gen Camaro production is headed to Lansing, MI, and that the fleet-only Impala will (finally!) die in 2016. As for the XTS, as AN explains it, sales are so slow that GM will either kill it or just shuffle its production volume elsewhere.Taken along with the fact that Unifor, the Canadian labor union repping workers at the Oshawa factory, claim GM hasn't made any guarantees about future production at the nearly 60-year-old factory, it seems fairly clear that the Regal's current factory is going to be put out to pasture.Meanwhile, according to AN, Opel has already dropped a not-so-subtle indicator that Buick production will be returning to the manufacturer's Russelsheim factory, issuing a statement back in March that read: "The Russelsheim plant has been chosen for the assembly of a future model which will be sold in the US under the Buick brand name in the second half of the decade."Logistically, this all makes a lot of sense. As AN says, Canada is expensive, Russelsheim has room and GM execs have said that the German brand and Buick are pretty good bedfellows. Of course, we'll need to wait and see how this plays out. All things considered, though, the arrival of a German-built Buick seems like a very real possibility.
Source: autoblog.com
Buick teased the arrival of the China-market Envision last month and gave us a few specs, now it's teasing the midsize crossover's interior and features. Having said it will "set a new benchmark in terms of space, safety, performance and specifications," we're told that equipment like the heated leather steering wheel and Bose-sourced active noise cancellation are market firsts in the segment.Elsewhere, light will shine on occupants through the panoramic roof during the day and via ice blue ambient lighting at night, and seating surfaces are being shown off with dual-stitched leather. Lane departure warning and parking assist help keep the bodywork in order, stop/start ignition fitted to the 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder with 256 horsepower and 260 pound-feet will help keep fuel economy up. One more convenience for the model's core buyers: a tailgate that can be partially opened.The Normal, Tour, Sport and Off-Road driving modes come courtesy of FlexRide, that last one – meant for extra-light-duty dirt work, naturally – appearing on a Buick for the first time.The Envision greets the world on August 28 at the Chengdu Motor Show. Word on the Internet streets is that we'll eventually get it as well, slotting between the Encore and Enclave.
Source: autoblog.com
