1962 Buick Electra 225 Convertable Survivor on 2040-cars

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Buick Electra E4 and E4 GS Ultium-based EVs introduced in China

China leads the way with Buick's revival, this month seeing the Trishield brand introduce another Ultium-based EV in two flavors for the Asian market. First comes the Electra E4, the crossover-coupe version of the Electra E5 that emerged from hiding in March. We know the formula — a little lower, a little shorter, a littler wider than the traditional sibling, with a steeper slope in the roof and a much faster backlight. The E4 wears a different front fascia design and touts subtle shifts like a single DRL instead of the dual DRLs on the E5. It goes a bit further with dual spoilers out back, a design trend found on decadent crossovers like the Aston Martin DBX and Genesis GV70 Coupe Concept.  The E4 is touch larger than our Buick Envision, the Chinese Electra about 7 inches longer, an inch wider, and 2.4 inches lower than the Envision, on a wheelbase 4 inches longer. The interiors hew to the design shown in the E5, with a bit more flash added. The same EYEMAX 30-inch, 6K curved screen forms the heart of the Buick Virtual Cockpit. The carmaker says front passengers get 39.9 inches of headroom in the E4, and there is "customer-pleasing headroom and knee space for second-row passengers," everyone bathed in light from the 12.9-square-foot low-radiation panoramic roof. It has 28 bins and cubbies for storage and 15.6 cubic feet of cargo room.  Underneath the skin, the entry-level powertrain has a 65-kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery powering a motor on the front axle making 241 horsepower and 243 pound-feet of torque. Based on China's test cycle, range is estimated at up to 329 miles. For now, the Electra E4 is only available with front-wheel drive.   Then there's the E4 GS, the first EV to merit Buick's Gran Sport designation. It's distinguished from the regular E4 with tweaks like a black diamond grille, black mirror caps, Night Bronze accents outside and in, 20-inch wheels hiding six-piston Brembo brakes on the front rotors, and illuminated sills. The GS starts with the same FWD drivetrain as the plain E4, but adds an AWD trim as well that's powered by a larger 79.7-kWh battery and makes 283 hp and 343 lb-ft. The front-driver can hit 62 miles per hour in 7.6 seconds. The AWD model cuts that sprint time to 6.2 seconds and increases range to an estimated 385 miles. Top speed for both drivetrains is 112 miles per hour.

Buick, Lexus top J.D. Power survey, as vehicle service improves overall

Buick and Lexus returned to their customary place atop J.D. Power's scorecard of satisfaction with dealership service departments. In the Customer Service Index Study, out Thursday, Buick scored 860 on a 1,000-point scale for mass-market brands and has topped this ranking in three of the past four years. Lexus topped the list of luxury brands with a score of 874. Fiat and Land Rover were the bottom-dwellers in the two categories. Buick and Lexus also ranked highly in the research company's overall Vehicle Dependability Study rankings out recently. The customer experience at car dealerships has improved steadily, with the overall industry score rising in seven of the past eight years. And one statistic is particularly remarkable: 94 percent of customers say their car was fixed right the first time. The dominant area of difficulty in repairs seems to be infotainment systems. Only 80 percent of respondents said their stereo was fixed right the first time. And in last month's Vehicle Dependability Study, J.D. Power reported that infotainment systems were the most commonly reported vehicle issue, accounting for 22 percent of all problems reported, up 2 percent from the previous year. J.D. Power surveyed 70,000 customers for the Customer Service Index Study. For the Vehicle Dependability Study, it surveyed 35,186 first owners of 2014 model-year vehicles after three years of ownership. Below are charts for both the current study and the complementary overall brand dependability survey. Related video:

Here are all the cars GM is axing as part of its restructuring

GM plans to kill off a couple of great and a few meh cars as part of its restructuring. Here's a rundown of all the cars being phased out of production. None of the vehicles GM axed were SUVs or crossovers. Instead, it was an action reminiscent of what Ford recently decided to do by discontinuing U.S. sales every Blue Oval sedan. GM just didn't explicitly say, "We're killing our cars," like Ford did — probably a smart move by GM. Keep scrolling down to see the full list of deceased GM models. Chevrolet Volt This one was the most surprising of all the cars GM decided to can, primarily because cars with plugs are supposed to be our future. However, maybe consumer demand just isn't quite there yet for a plug-in like the Volt. We came up with all sorts of ideas for what was to blame for the untimely demise of the Volt, so go check that out for a full breakdown of the situation. Cadillac CT6 Here's another car we'll be sad to see go. Cadillac's flagship sedan was such a joy to drive, and it served as the conduit to deliver GM's semi-autonomous Super Cruise system, which still hasn't been surpassed by any other company's technology in our books, even Tesla's Autopilot. That being said, GM does plan to produce the CT6 until March, with the last cars coming off the line set to be twin-turbo V8 V-Series models. If it's going to go, this seems like a pretty great way to make an exit. We'll be patiently awaiting the next flagship Cadillac once this one finally fades away. Chevrolet Impala The Impala is actually a pretty good car. It doesn't sell terribly, and we think it's a completely satisfactory car to drive. However, people would rather have a Traverse or Equinox these days, making the Impala one of the vehicles to find itself on this list. Chevrolet is keeping its smaller brother, the Malibu, but a big, full-size sedan just isn't what people are ordering up these days. It's unfortunate to see it go, but we won't be broken up over it. Chevrolet Cruze We wouldn't rank the Cruze at the top of the compact car class, but if you were looking for a small, cheap American car, it was either this or the Focus. The Cruze had the potential to be a true small performance car if Chevy had ever wanted to make it into one. But sadly, we're seeing it bow out before Chevy ever tried to slot a hot engine and suspension in there to make it competitive with other hot hatches. A Cruze SS would have made enthusiasts take notice.