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2016 Buick Cascada First Drive

Florida became a state in 1845. It is the third most populous state in the United States, home to the most-visited theme park in the world. It is where you'll find every convertible ever sold in the United States, be it a pasty white Infiniti M30 or a Lamborghini. And soon, many examples of the 2016 Buick Cascada will call it home. Florida is full of Buicks. Wonder if anyone bought a Rendezvous Ultra? It's in Florida. The Buick Reatta, the company's last convertible before this? Also there. Buick, however, is eager to get those who better remember Bush vs. Gore than Nixon vs. Kennedy to ask, "That's a Buick?" Which is how we arrive at the Cascada. The Cascada isn't so much a new Buick as a car that's new to Buick. It's been on sale for about three years as the Opel Cascada in Europe, along with badge-engineered siblings sold by Vauxhall and Holden in other parts of the world. Buick took that time to make several hundred changes to the Cascada for US consumption and then found it without many rivals. The Chrysler 200 convertible, Volkswagen Eos, and Volvo C70 would all be prime targets for the Cascada here, were they not all dead now. Buick's gamble is that these Chrysler, VW, and Volvo (also Saab, for that matter) customers are looking for somewhere to go next. The Cascada isn't so much a new Buick as a car that's new to Buick. One thing is certain: the Cascada is eye-catching to Floridians. I had no fewer than six people in Miami and Key West walk up to me and ask what kind of car it was, or even say, "That's that new Buick convertible, right?" Despite being three years old, the Cascada's looks have aged pretty well. And it's been spared many of the tacked-on details, like fake portholes and chrome wheels, that were adhered to the Regal when it made its trip over from Opel-land. Top up or down, the Cascada is attractive. Unlike the Audi A3 or BMW 2 Series convertibles (the former being the Buick's prime target), there's no abruptness to the design, no sharply ending lines. The Buick looks relaxed in a Palm Beach or Palm Springs way, even on the inside with the convincingly stitched dash top and standard heated leather seats (one of the pieces redesigned for the Buick). That being said, the pattern on the seat material is a misstep, looking like it was inspired by Aunt Flora's 1972 patio furniture. Then it's surprising that you don't exactly sink into the Cascada. While the seats are mounted low, they're not pillow soft.

It looks like Buick is working on a new Regal GS

When Buick revealed its Regal-badged version of the Opel Insignia/Holden Commodore sedan and wagon, it left out one significant model, the GS. The high-performance Regal was missing in action, but these new spy photos seem to indicate one is coming soon. It looks like it will be pretty subtle on the outside. Upon close examination, we can see that each side of the front bumper features a much larger grille than the normal Regal Sportback and TourX. The thick upper borders on the grilles also look like good places for some LED accent or fog lights. These larger grilles appear to be the only significant difference to the front, though. On the sides, there are slightly deeper side skirts than those on a standard Sportback, and the rear bumper looks to be lifted from the TourX, but without the wagon's aluminum cladding. One other indication that this is a high-performance Regal is the car's front braking equipment. We can make out a Cadillac logo on the front brake calipers, which shows that this isn't running standard Regal stoppers. As for what's under the hood, it's tough to say, but we don't think it will use a turbocharged four-cylinder as the previous generation did. Instead, we think it may be using a V6. That's a hard maybe. The base Regal's turbo four makes as much power as the old GS, and although Buick could crank up the boost for more power, it could also make use of the V6 it will offer overseas. In the mechanically identical Commodore, a 308-horsepower V6 will be available along with a 9-speed automatic and the same type of all-wheel-drive system as the Ford Focus RS. This option would make the upcoming GS more powerful than the old one, and the new standard model, plus offer all-wheel drive. We would like to see even more power than 308, since the top-dog previous-generation Insignia OPC had a 325-horsepower V6. Related Video: Featured Gallery Buick Regal GS Spy Shots View 15 Photos Image Credit: Brian Williams Spy Photos Buick Hatchback Luxury Performance Sedan buick regal gs

U.S. denies GM tariff relief request for China-made Buick SUV

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has denied a General Motors Co request for an exemption to a 25 percent U.S. tariff on its Chinese-made Buick Envision sport utility vehicle. The denial of the nearly year-old petition came in a May 29 letter from the U.S. Trade Representative's office saying the request concerns "a product strategically important or related to 'Made in China 2025' or other Chinese industrial programs." 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. GM said on Tuesday it was aware of the denial and has been paying the tariff since July. GM has not raised the sticker price to account for the tariff. Buick Envision sales fell in the United States by nearly 27% to 30,000 last year and fell another 21% in the first three months of 2019. Only a small number of vehicles are built in China and sold in the United States. Last month, the U.S. Trade Representative's Office also denied a request by Chinese-owned Volvo Cars for tariff exemptions for mid-size SUVs assembled in China after the automaker sought an exemption for the XC60, its top selling U.S. vehicle. 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 last year the "vast majority" of Envisions, about 200,000 a year, are sold in China. Because of the lower U.S. sales volume, "assembly in our home market is not an option" for the Envision, which competes with such mid-size crossover vehicles as the Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Cadillac XT5. Ahead of the July 2018 start for higher import tariffs, GM shipped in a six-month supply of Envisions at the much lower 2.5 percent tariff rate, Reuters reported in August 2018.