Buick Park Avenue Ultra Sedan 4-door on 2040-cars

Auto blog

GM applies to trademark Buick's Electra name in Canada

At Auto China 2020 in Beijing, Buick revealed an Electra concept with a design language called Potential Energy created by one of GM's Shanghai-based design studios. A press release about the concept said the "all-electric crossover offers a sneak peek at Buick’s vision for a new intelligent electric future." It's possible that the "intelligent electric future" could include the Electra name, as the Rivian Owners Forum discovered Buick applied to trademark that model name in Canada on December 20. Buick isn't new to the name, having put it on a luxury sedan it produced from 1959 to 1990. What better way to resurrect history with electricity using the name Electra and a design language called Potential Energy? As the Rivian forum also noted, Buick snuck a concept car into General Motors' promotional video for the Ultifi software platform that will connect owners' digital lives across vehicles and locations. For less than two seconds at the end of the vid, a seriously chic fastback sedan speeds through a digital landscape, a Buick tri-shield logo set into what looks like an active rear spoiler. We don't see Buick building this car, but we'd love it if Buick did. What we imagine more likely is a more production-possible evolution of the Electra concept shown in Beijing last year that had Ultium batteries powering two electric motors that shared a combined 583 horsepower among both axles. The sprint to 60 miles per hour was said to take 4.3 seconds, range estimated at about 410 miles. The dihedral doors enclosed a buttonless cockpit with a rectangular, retracting steering wheel, huge curved screen, eConnect software, and an AI-powered assistant for feature control. There was also a skateboard tucked into the rear bumper for last-mile travel to the destination or the half-pipe. We expect Buick to launch at least one crossover in 2024, and another in 2025. One of them will likely compete with the Ford Mustang Mach-E and the production version of the Chrysler Airflow concept. Related video:

2015 Buick Verano offered with six-speed manual after all

Good news, boys and girls (well, at least those of you who still like shifting for yourselves). Buick got in touch with us to correct some information that it had mistakenly announced; namely, that the 2015 Verano will lose its optional six-speed manual transmission. Apparently, that announcement was incorrect, and the compact sedan will indeed continue to offer a manual option for 2015, despite what we're certain is a low take rate. Additionally, the Desert Dusk Metallic paint that was said to come as part of an Appearance Package is no longer part of the deal. With that out of the way, we now return you to your regularly scheduled automotive-obsessive broadcast...

GM laying off more than 4,000 workers Monday morning

According to reports from Automotive News, The Detroit News, and CNN, General Motors plans to begin laying off more than 4,000 salaried workers starting Monday morning. In a statement to AN, a spokesperson for the automaker said, "We are not confirming timing. Our employees are our priority. We will communicate with them first." We've been expecting layoffs at General Motors since November, 2018. At the time, the Detroit-based automaker announced it would seek to shed 8,100 salaried employees, shut down five assembly plants in North America, and kill off several slow-selling models. One month earlier, GM offered buyout packages to 18,000 workers and said it would seek to cut its global workforce by 25 percent. A spokesperson said at the time the moves were "proactive steps to get ahead of the curve by accelerating our efforts to address overall business performance." The cost-cutting moves are expected to save GM up to $2.5 billion in 2019 and as much as $6 billion by 2020. David Kudla, CEO and chief investment strategist of Mainstay Capital Management, referred to the impending culling as "Black Monday" and told The Detroit News that the layoffs would begin around 7:30 a.m. and continue in waves throughout the coming days and weeks. GM plans to deliver on its fourth-quarter and full-year 2018 earnings report on Wednesday. President Donald Trump plans to deliver the annual State of the Union address a day earlier on Tuesday. We expect to hear plenty more from both sides over the next several days.