1998 Buick Century Custom Sedan 4-door 3.1l 95k Mi on 2040-cars

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Opel Insignia OPC Sports Tourer shows its fresh face ahead of Frankfurt debut

Drive down the Autobahn and there's any number of vehicles likely to pass you, and most of them are produced locally. But if you're wondering how that Opel left you in its dust, look closely (and quickly) enough and you might make out the letters OPC on the back.
They stand for Opel Performance Center (the German counterpart to Vauxhall's VXR line) and they adorn performance versions of the Corsa, Astra and Insignia. The latter is undergoing a bit of a refresh and is expected to debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in a couple of weeks, but you don't have to wait that long as our intrepid spy photographers have caught it in the flesh outside an Opel facility in Germany.
Spied here completely undisguised in Sports Tourer (read: wagon) form, the Insignia has had a few nips and tucks performed, but we'll be more intrigued to see what it's got under the hood. The current model packs a 2.8-liter twin-turbo V6 driving 325 horsepower to all four wheels, but rumors suggest that the OPC (yeah you know me!) could have as much as 400 hp up its sleeve. That would make this one heck of a sleeper - especially in wagon form - and only make us pine for a more potent version of its twin Buick Regal to roam our highways, too.

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:

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.