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2018 Buick Regal's base price is almost $2,500 cheaper than last year's

Along with the launch of the Buick Regal GS, Buick released official pricing for all three versions of the Regal, and they're very competitively priced, especially the Sportback. The part-sedan, part-hatch Regal Sportback starts at just $25,915. That's more than $2,000 cheaper than the previous generation 2017 Buick Regal sedan, which started at $28,385. Along with the savings in cost comes a standard turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 250 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque - 295 pound-feet with optional all-wheel drive. That's a significant step up from the standard naturally aspirated engine in the previous-generation Regal that makes just 182 horsepower and 172 pound-feet of torque. The new Regal's hatch also provides more flexibility for loading cargo, and the cargo space expands from 14.2 cubic feet in the old model to 31.5. View 12 Photos The TourX wagon, or crossover depending on your opinion, comes with a $4,000 premium over the Sportback, with a base price of $29,995, matching what was revealed last month. It gains only about an extra cubic foot behind the rear seats, but with the seats folded, it has 73.5 cubic feet to play with. It also comes with standard all-wheel drive and the engine with 295 pound-feet of torque. Plus, it has the added ride height and plastic body cladding that gives it the same trendy look shared with the Subaru Outback, Volvo V60 Cross Country, and Audi A4 Allroad. It is a few thousand more than the Outback, but it undercuts the Volvo by roughly $10,000 and the Audi by almost $15,000. Then, for performance, there's the Regal GS. It starts at $39,990 and has a 310-horsepower V6 and standard all-wheel drive. It also features all of the versatility of the regular Regal Sportback. All-in-all, the Buick Regal line seems to pack a lot of value, at least on paper. Related Video:

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.

Submit your questions for Autoblog Podcast #310 LIVE!

We record Autoblog Podcast #310 tonight, and you can drop us your questions and comments regarding the rest of the week's news via our Q&A module below. Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes if you haven't already done so, and if you want to take it all in live, tune in to our UStream (audio only) channel at 10:00 PM Eastern tonight.
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