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GM expanding Lansing Lambda CUV plant

Considering that crossovers are a rapidly growing portion of the US auto market, it's not surprising to hear that General Motors is preparing to build even more of them. The company is investing $63 million to expand its Lansing Delta Township Assembly plant that builds Lambda platform CUVs like the Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave.
According to GM, the expansion will add roughly 263,000 extra square feet of space to the plant. Of that, 181,000 square feet will be for an updated body shop with cutting-edge robots. There will also be 54,000 square feet of additional room in the paint shop and 28,000 square feet of more area for general assembly.
GM isn't saying as much, but there is the possibility that this extra space could allow for additional models produced at the factory. Cadillac reportedly dropped plans to build a three-row SUV on the Lambda platform earlier this year, however, dealers for the luxury brand were recently pitched the possibility of adding large and small CUVs, an ATS convertible or a sedan below the ATS.

2018 Buick Enclave: How engineers made it larger, lighter, more sophisticated

Buick used the unveiling of the 2018 Enclave at the New York Auto Show to introduce its new range-topping Avenir sub-brand to the world. With fancier interior finishes and exterior details, it's Buick's latest effort to make itself a proper luxury brand (or perhaps re-establish itself as such). However, lost in the Avenir song and dance is the fact that the 2018 Buick Enclave is a (very) long-awaited all-new model regardless of the trim level one selects. Like the Chevrolet Traverse upon which it is based, the new Enclave is bigger than the vehicle it replaces but considerably lighter, by about 400 pounds. "We told every engineer, 'get your job done, but then take the weight out,'" said engineer Rick Spina as we hovered next to his larger yet lighter creation. His team therefore set about taking a little bit of weight out from just about everywhere, from using additional aluminum in the suspension to varying the thickness of the frame (thicker in places that needed to be stronger, thinner and therefore lighter in places that didn't). Only about 100 pounds came out of the body with the rest coming from elsewhere. Not only will the reduced weight improve fuel economy (Buick-estimated at 19 mpg combined with FWD versus 18 for the 2017 model) and presumably the old Enclave's rather ponderous handling, but it should only make things easier for the new powertrain: General Motors' now-familiar 3.6-liter V6 and its latest nine-speed automatic. With 302 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque, Buick says the new engine will need 7.2 seconds to reach 60 mph with FWD or 7.5 seconds with AWD. That's a second quicker than before. Besides acceleration, towing is also bumped up by 500 pounds to 5,000. For those models with all-wheel drive, the Enclave has the same basic system featured on range-topping versions of the Buick LaCrosse. Besides power being sent front and rear, it can also differ from right to left in the back, although Spina is quick to point out that capability is for traction-enhancing purposes rather than sporty, handling-enhancing torque-vectoring ones. Buick owners already appreciated the Enclave for its quietness so the engineers decided to take it that much further. This included altering the exhaust, improving body sealing (there are triple door seals), including active sound deadening and utilizing advanced materials that absorb sound as opposed to simply being thick, dense and heavy enough to keep it out.

GM expands headlight recall to 180k Buicks and Pontiacs

General Motors is issuing an expanded headlight module recall to include 180,504 examples in North America of the 2005 Buick LaCrosse (2008 model year pictured above) and 2007 Pontiac Grand Prix. Specifically, the campaign affects 159,584 of them in the US and 20,920 in Canada. When the part fails, the vehicles' low beams can stop working either intermittently or permanently. "GM is unable to confirm any crashes, injuries or fatalities related to this condition," the company said in a statement, and there's currently no permanent repair for the problem. For now, dealers will replace the headlamp module with a new example of the same part. The automaker first announced this campaign in November 2014 when it affected 316,357 examples globally of the 2006-09 Buick LaCrosse; 2006-2007 Chevy TrailBlazer and TrailBlazer EXT; 2006-2007 GMC Envoy and 2006 GMC Envoy XL; 2006-2007 Buick Rainier; 2006-2008 Saab 9-7X; and 2006-08 Isuzu Ascender. Related Video: