2012 Buick Enclave Cxl/ No Reserve/ Leather/ Navi / Pano/ Dvd/ Rear Camera on 2040-cars

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Buick has best sales year ever, delivers over 1M cars globally

If there are any lingering doubts why General Motors held onto Buick while killing Pontiac, Hummer and Saturn, one only has to look at the sales numbers from 2013 for the real answer. Thanks largely to strong sales in China, Buick set a global sales record last year by selling more than one million vehicles.
The lion's share of Buick sales came from China, which sold more than 809,000 units - about four times more Buicks than were sold in North America as a whole. In the US, the Buick Encore accounted for almost half of all US sales with 97,311 units as Buick spent the summer trying to keep up with demand of the subcompact crossover. Likewise, China-only models like the GL8 minivan and Excelle sedan (same as the US-spec Verano) were strong sellers in that market.
For good measure, Buick more than doubled its sales in Mexico with 2,319 units. Scroll down for the full press release.

Buick lowering base prices on Regal, Verano

Buick might have two new options for buyers in the market for an inexpensive luxury sedan. In a move similar to the introduction of the LaCrosse 1SV base trim a few months ago, the brand is ready to offer cheaper, entry-level versions of the Regal and Verano. Like the LaCrosse 1SV, the Verano 1SV mostly cuts dealer margins to reduce the cost for customers. The small sedan is priced at $21,065, plus $925 destination, which is a significant $2,315 drop compared to the next higher trim. The powertrain is still a 2.4-liter four-cylinder making 180 horsepower and 171 pound-feet of torque and a six-speed automatic, but buyers lose out on satellite radio. According to CarsDirect, dealers are making just $106 on this model, versus $935 on the higher grade. Meanwhile, the Regal 1SV charts a slightly different path to a lower price. The trim starts at $27,065, which is a $2,925 savings over the next trim. Buyers still get leather seats too, but the powertrain here is a 2.4-liter four-cylinder without eAssist that makes 182 hp and 172 lb-ft of torque and a six-speed automatic. That's a 77 hp deficit compared to the turbocharged Regal, and combined city/highway fuel economy dips to 23 miles per gallon combined, compared to 24 mpg with forced induction. Buick is introducing the 1SV models in hopes of grabbing more attention for the brand. "We added this new base level to some models as a means of expanding the opportunity for more customers to experience Buick vehicles. The addition of these trims will create an increased awareness and consideration of these vehicles when being compared to the competition," said company spokesperson Nick Richards to Autoblog. However, you might not see many of these inexpensive Buicks on the road. "On the Verano, we suspect dealers will opt to stay away from a car with around $100 between invoice and MSRP - that's the pattern we've been seeing on the LaCrosse 1SV, which is practically impossible to find," said CarsDirect Senior Pricing Analyst Alex Bernstein to Autoblog. Also, the Regal 1SV's switch to a less powerful, naturally aspirated engine "could be a turn-off for some shoppers," he said. Related Video:

As GM readies Alexa convenience for vehicles, we ponder its dark side

SEATTLE — On the 30th floor of AmazonÂ’s glass tower, in a room with a breathtaking view of downtown Seattle, thereÂ’s a beautiful bed that nobody sleeps in. ItÂ’s near a kitchen nobody cooks in, a living room couch that no one crashes on, a kitchen table that doesnÂ’t host any family meetings. ItÂ’s AmazonÂ’s Smart Home Lab, a place where every Alexa-enabled gizmo the company or its partners can produce is crammed into the same space, ostensibly for Amazon to test. The company invited us there to show us the companyÂ’s vision for consumer products to leverage AlexaÂ’s voice interaction software before taking us down to a demo of its latest implementation in a Buick Encore GX. In this eerie simulacrum of a fantastic luxury apartment, however, nothing went right the first time. ItÂ’s a challenging environment for Alexa to work correctly, our hosts noted, pointing to the fact that there were six wifi networks available for the devices to connect to. In a normal home, one wifi network controls all the devices, who can theoretically sort out for themselves which one youÂ’re actually trying to activate. In the Smart Home Lab, any unmuted Alexa device thinks itÂ’s in charge. Even so, the connected toaster wouldnÂ’t connect. The Fire TV Cube wouldnÂ’t play a song. Our handlers futzed with everything, muting and unmuting devices, repeating commands, making us feel better about our own struggles with similar technologies. If it doesnÂ’t work right at Amazon HQ, maybe itÂ’s not just us! ItÂ’s telling that down on the faux lawn, in between the gleaming Amazon spheres that host a billionaireÂ’s tropical garden and the Day 1 building that the Smart Home Lab resides in, the BuickÂ’s Alexa implementation doesnÂ’t use a “wake-word” at all. The familiar Push to Talk button on the steering wheel, which normally activates General MotorÂ’s own proprietary voice command system, can be set to default to Alexa when that rolls out to GM vehicles in the first half of 2020 via an over-the-air (OTA) update. Given the reluctance of Alexa to respond to its wake-word in the comfort of AmazonÂ’s own lab, we hoped that this was by design. Drivers are already familiar with Push to Talk, and a physical button is more reliable than the vagaries of contemporary voice recognition – not to mention the privacy and accuracy issues involved with always-on mics. Our experience with the not-ready-for-primetime Mercedes-Benz MBUX system is illustrative.