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Opel did a great job on the 2018 Buick Regal

Ladies and gentlemen, the 2018 Buick Regal. The car you see is actually the Opel Insignia Grand Sport, but General Motors will bring it to the United States as the next-generation Regal virtually unchanged. The Insignia, revealed Wednesday by Opel, gets a sleek new design punched up with LED lights and sweeping proportions meant to conjure a fastback silhouette. It will debut in March at the Geneva Motor Show and launch next year in Europe. Expect the Regal to go on sale in the middle of 2017 in the US. The Opel-Buick relationship has been tight in the last decade, with the outgoing Regal earning strong praise for its German-tuned chassis and premium appearance. While Buick has been the recipient of much of Opel's work, the Insignia is now borrowing one of Buick's great names: Grand Sport. View 12 Photos Opel points to the Monza concept as the source of inspiration for the Insignia, though Buick will undoubtedly say the Avenir concept was the Regal's creative stimulus. Some think it looks like a Mazda. Mark Adams, vice president of GM Design Europe also oversees the automaker's global styling operations. "Its design combines flowing lines and subtle surfaces with crisp, precise lines to even exaggerate its dramatic proportions: it looks longer, lower, and wider than it actually is, and it definitely looks upscale," he said in statement. Expect similar thoughts for the Regal. Opel is also working on an Insignia wagon, which we've captured in spy photos before. We've also heard whispers that it will come to the US market with a Regal badge. Opel's announcement previews many of the details we'll see in the new Regal. Based on a new chassis, the Insignia is 386 pounds lighter than the previous car. The wheelbase is 3.62 inches longer and the track is .43 inches wider. Opel tapered the front and rear overhangs, so there's only a slight gain in overall length. The interior has more room, Opel says, and features a touchscreen with GM's IntelliLink system. The car will also have several drive modes, which tailor the chassis, throttle response, and shifting dynamics. Other technologies includes a head-up display, 360-degree camera, lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control, and cross-traffic alert. The Insignia will offer an eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive with torque-vectoring. We expect both to come to the US market. Meanwhile, another GM brand, Vauxhall, unveiled the Vauxhall Insignia for the British market.

U.S. new-vehicle sales in 2018 rise slightly to 17.27 million [UPDATE]

DETROIT — Sales of new vehicles in the U.S. rose slightly in 2018, defying predictions and highlighting a strong economy. Automakers reported an increase of 0.3 percent over a year ago to 17.27 million vehicles. The increase came despite rising interest rates, a volatile stock market, and rising car and truck prices that pushed some buyers out of the new-vehicle market. Industry analysts and automakers said strong economic fundamentals pushed up sales and should keep them near historic highs in 2019. "Economic conditions in the U.S. are favorable and should continue to be supportive of vehicle sales at or around their current run rate," Ford Chief Economist Emily Kolinski Morris said after the company and other automakers announced their sales numbers Thursday. That auto sales remain near the 2016 record of 17.55 million is a testimonial to the strength of the economy, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. The job market, he said, has created new employment, and wage growth has accelerated. "That's fundamental to selling anything," he said. "If there are lots of jobs and people are getting bigger paychecks, they will buy more." The unemployment rate is 3.7 percent, a 49-year low. The economy is thought to have grown close to 3 percent last year, its best performance in more than a decade. Consumers, the main driver of the economy, are spending freely. The Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate four times in 2018 but is only expected to raise it twice this year. Auto sales also were helped by low gasoline prices and rising home values, Zandi said. It all means that people are likely to keep buying new vehicles this year even as they grow more expensive. The Edmunds.com auto-pricing site estimates that the average new vehicle price hit a record $35,957 in December, about 2 percent higher than the previous year. It will be harder for automakers to keep the sales pace above 17 million because they have been enticing buyers for several years now with low-interest financing and other incentives, Zandi said. He predicts more deals in the coming year as job growth slows and credit tightens for higher-risk buyers. Edmunds, which provides content, including automotive tips and reviews, for distribution by The Associated Press, predicts that sales will drop this year to 16.9 million.

2019 Buick Envision starts just under $33,000

Buick has announced that prices for its new 2019 Envision will start at $33,985 (including destination), positioning the refreshed compact SUV right between its best-selling Encore entry-level crossover and more upmarket Enclave and taking aim at competitors including the Lincoln MKC and Acura RDX. The Envision will be offered in five trim levels — Envision, Preferred, Essence, Premium and Premium II, which starts at $45,590 — when the crossover goes on sale this spring. Prices exclude tax, title, license, dealer fees and optional equipment. We told you recently about the optional new nine-speed Hydra-Matic 9T50 automatic transmission and 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder on the top two trim levels. The upgraded engine offers 252 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. The standard setup remains the 197-hp 2.5-liter inline four-cylinder engine making 147 lb-ft of torque and mated to a six-speed automatic, offered in front- or all-wheel drive. The crossover gets a new winged Buick emblem on the grille, new headlamps and newly sculpted front and rear facias, plus optional 19-inch wheels. It also gets a Buick-first tire-fill alert that signals when a tire has reached the recommended pressure level. Standard technology features include an in-vehicle air ionizer to eliminate odors, a switch to turn off its fuel-saving engine stop feature, rear-park assist, an 8-inch diagonal infotainment system and 4G LTE WiFi hotspot. By dropping the starting MSRP by nearly $1,000, GM says the Envision is now better positioned against its top-selling Encore (starting MSRP $22,990), for which nearly 60 percent of buyers come from outside the automaker's stable of brands. Related Video: