2000 Buick Park Avenue Base Sedan 4-door 3.8l on 2040-cars

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March Madness upsets good for auto advertisers

There are no Cinderella teams left in the NCAA men's basketball tournament - the fairytales ended with Georgia State's loss to Xavier over the weekend. And even though the Sweet 16 is composed of elite teams - at the time of writing the lowest-ranked squad is 11th-seeded UCLA, which has most championships of any school in the country - there are still underdogs and surprises, and they are good for NCAA business and advertisers. Last year the March Madness Live app, which allows users to watch games on the go, was downloaded 4.5 million times, a jump of more than 40 percent over 2013. Buick sponsors the iOS version of the app, but more than a million of those downloads were for the Android version, sponsored by Infiniti since 2011. Part of Buick's engagement is a "Boss Button" on the livestream sites that can quickly mask the page with something your boss won't question you over. It also sponsors a trick-shot competition for fans, has a display in Bracket Town during the Final Four, and its cars lead the team buses through the city. Infiniti said last year's tourney increased online searches for the brand by 25 percent in March, and things are going even better this year: it's round-by-round bracket game drew 477,859 total entries in 2014, this year's game has signed up 534,350 already and the tournament has another two weeks to go. The luxury brand is all over the event, promoting the QX60 through to the Final Four, then moving its efforts to the Q50. It sponsors the Coaches vs. Cancer charity and will have an Infiniti Lounge near the Final Four venue in downtown Indianapolis. So for the two automakers keeping their own scores... come on, Wichita State! Six brackets, six chances to win a trip to #FinalFour 2016. Official rules at http://t.co/4b9GyGJ4wP. #RoundByRound https://t.co/ZCsFatVlja - Infiniti USA (@InfinitiUSA) March 19, 2015 News Source: Automotive News - sub. req. Marketing/Advertising Buick Infiniti app sports ncaa march madness

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.

Buick to add more GS models?

Buick may not be the first name that comes to mind when you think of performance automobiles, but fans of the brand know what letters to look for. If you believe the reports, there's a new GNX and Grand National on the way, but in the meantime, Buick may offer more GS models to fill the void.
Currently, the Regal is the only model available as a GS (pictured above), packing the same 259-horsepower turbo four as the Regal Turbo but enhanced with key suspension, brakes and rolling-stock upgrades. As Car and Driver notes, similar upgrades could easily be applied to the Verano and LaCrosse, although maybe not the Encore or Enclave crossovers. Of course, Buick would still have to steer clear of Cadillac's Vsport line, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have a little room to play.