2016 Buick Enclave on 2040-cars

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GM seeks to exempt Buick Envision from U.S. auto tariffs

General Motors is seeking an exemption to a 25 percent U.S. tariff on its Chinese-made Buick Envision sport utility, the automaker said on Thursday, in a move to prevent the key model in the brand's U.S. lineup from becoming a victim of the U.S.-China trade war. The midsize SUV, priced starting at about $35,000, has become a target for critics of Chinese-made goods, including leaders of the United Auto Workers union and members in key political swing states such as Michigan and Ohio. The Envision, assembled only in China, last year accounted for about 19 percent of Buick brand sales in the United States. GM said in a statement that it filed the request on July 30 with the U.S. Trade Representative. An official notice was posted on Thursday on the regulations.gov website, which is tracking requests for exclusions from the so-called Section 301 tariff on certain imported goods from China. GM, the largest U.S. automaker, argued in its request that Envision sales in China and the United States would generate funds "to invest in our U.S. manufacturing facilities and to develop the next generation of automotive technology in the United States." GM said the "vast majority" of Envisions, about 200,000 a year, are sold in China. About 41,000 were sold last year in the United States. Because of the lower U.S. sales volume, "assembly in our home market is not an option" for the Envision, which competes with such midsize crossover vehicles as the Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Cadillac XT5. GM has taken other steps to soften the blow of tariffs, which hit just as the automaker had lowered the price of the Envision to make it more competitive. Ahead of the July 6 start for higher import tariffs, GM shipped in a six-month supply of Envisions at the much lower 2.5 percent tariff rate. Envision sales from April through June plunged to just 7,000 vehicles, while inventories climbed to more than 13,000 vehicles at the end of June. At the current sales rate, the Envision supply should be enough to keep many dealers stocked through the end of the year. GM had lowered prices by as much as $2,500 on the 2019 models, which it started shipping in late April. That means Buick's 2,000 U.S. dealers should have lower-priced Envisions to sell well into the fall. "The previous price point was too high" on the 2018 Envision, said Casey Clark, sales manager at Serra Buick GMC Cadillac in Washington, Michigan, in an interview.

NFL QB Cam Newton and supermodel Miranda Kerr star in Buick's Super Bowl ad

Buick's Super Bowl LI ad is another demonstration that its cars aren't frumpy anymore. The ad opens with parents watching their children play football, with one of the dads, we'll call him "Dad No. 1," shouting encouraging words to his son. In the background, a bright red Buick Cascada pulls up, and another dad, "Dad No. 2," points it out. Dad 1 doesn't believe him, and says, "If that's a Buick, then my kid's Cam Newton." All of sudden, his son transmogrifies into Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. As expected, he quickly dominates the game, with some amusing results. At the end, when a Buick Encore shows up, the referee inadvertently turns himself into supermodel Miranda Kerr, based on apparent disbelief over what constitutes a Buick. You can see all of the shenanigans in the video above. Plus, if you'd like to see what goes into making a Super Bowl commercial, Buick produced a short video with Newton and Kerr showing what happens behind the scenes. You can check it out below. Related Video:

Is that a Cascada on Buick's Detroit show stand?

The above image is a close-up of one particular car spotted in a rendering that Buick provided of its stand at next week's Detroit Auto Show. Two doors, four seats, no top, deep and arcing shoulder line - any idea what that might be? We're going to guess it's the coming Buick Cascada, only we're stretching the definition of the word "guess" since the car is a dead ringer for the Americanized Opel droptop, which we drove more than a year ago. Looks like it's finally going to get the 'Official' treatment as a 2016 model, after it was shown to dealers last August. There have also been rumors that the car will be called Velite, but newer rumblings out of the Renaissance Center suggest that such gossip is a dead-end. The Cascada will enter a segment with no real competitors, since the Chrysler 200 ragtop is gone and a Buick convertible vs. Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro convertibles isn't really a thing, and we think will make a nice expansion of the brand's model-range footprint. The big bit of news we're waiting for is what's going to power it, a Euro-sourced four-cylinder with 168 or 197 horsepower? We don't have long to wait to find out. Related Gallery 2013 Opel Cascada: Quick Spin View 50 Photos News Source: GM AuthorityImage Credit: Copyright 2014 AOL Detroit Auto Show Buick Opel Convertible Luxury Detroit buick cascada opel cascada