Buick (Page 6)

We are another week closer to the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit and with this new week comes another look at the upcoming 2013 Buick Encore – a small SUV that will make its grand debut next week at Cobo Hall.

Almost two weeks ago, General Motors offered up the first teaser image of the new 2013 Buick Encore followed by a four quadrant image of the new crossover on Facebook with the four sections covered b the Buick logo– the second of which was revealed quietly over the long holiday weekend.

As part of a new end-of -year recognition, and hopefully the start of a TorqueNews tradition, two recognition awards will be given under the automotive technology category based on a set of criteria. The first is the Best of the Best Production Automotive Technology 2011 which goes to the Buick eAssist.

(TorqueNews) Continuing a growth spurt, General Motors Co. has unveiled plans to spend $68 million on a Canadian manufacturing facility to produce the new Chevrolet Impala. The Chevy Impala will be the fifth new GM product that will be built in Canada since 2009.

Teasing new models through social media venues is all the rage this year and General Motors got in on the “striptease” act yesterday when they posted a close up picture of the new 2013 Buick Encore CUV on the official Buick Facebook page – promising to offer more pictures as they near the 2012 Detroit Auto Show debut of the new Buick crossover.

The Ecotec 2.0L turbo I-4 engine powers the all-new 2012 Buick Regal GS, and is now one of WardsAuto World’s 2012 “10 Best Engines” for North America.

WardsAuto is out with its Ward's 10 Best Engines for 2012 and it's a great list with diverse technology that points the way to how engines are evolving in the American marketplace but it's good to see good old American grunt like that offered in the Ford Mustang Boss 302 isn't overlooked.

This morning, General Motors announced that they would investment $325 million in their Warren Michigan Transmission plant to retool and further prepare the facility for the production of future electric vehicle components – a move that will create or retain 418 jobs.

Leaders of union locals at Chrysler met with UAW President Bob King and his deputies for less than a half hour this morning at the UAW's Region 1 office in Warren, Mich. King told them his bargaining team hopes to have a four-year deal in place with the Detroit Three's smallest carmaker by Wednesday.

If you could make a few bucks renting your car out, would you? GM and RelayRides are betting you will want to become part of peer-to-peer car sharing through an exclusive relationship that was announced in Detroit.

General Motors was once again the top selling automaker in the US market in September 2011, with 207,145 vehicles sold bringing the General an increase of 20% over the same month last year.

After one week of serious face-to-face conversation, bargainers for the UAW and Ford Motor Co. are on the brink of consensus on a four-year deal for the automaker's 41,000 unionized rank and file that might include a $7,500 signing bonus and union-won promises of new and retained jobs at Ford.

UAW retirees from General Motors Co. of Detroit and Chrysler Group LLC of Auburn Hills, Mich., will get enhanced health and dental benefits in 2012 via the UAW Retired Medical Benefits Trust, the union announced on its Facebook page.

People who go to the auto show in Orange County, Calif., through the end of this weekend will be able to test drive dozens of 2012 cars, trucks and vans -- everything from the new Volkswagen Beetle to the Fiat 500 and Chevrolet Sonic.

The new contract for auto workers between the UAW and General Motors Co. should get ratified in record time and by an overwhelming margin because the UAW got a lot from GM: At least 6,400 more union jobs, job security, more products to build, plant reopenings, auto workers' first raises in eight years and $5,000 profit-sharing checks. But there were some people who didn't benefit from this four-year contract.

If the pending four-year contract negotiated by the UAW with General Motors Co. has you curious to find out what a GM auto worker is paid to put bumpers on Buicks, pay attention: You're about to learn how UAW members will be compensated through 2015.

General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM, TSX: GMM) and the UAW shook hands on a four-year contract late Friday, giving GM's rank and file their first pay raises in eight years. While terms of the General Motors-UAW deal weren't immediately disclosed, Reuters reported that 48,500 unionized GM workers would get $5,000 "signing bonuses" and that at least 570 laid-off workers would be re-employed.

The Buick Regal is very closely based on the European Opel Insignia so when spyshots surfaced showing a Buick Regal Wagon in the Detroit area, many assumed that the Opel Insignia Sports Tourer would be making an appearance as a sports wagon for the Buick brand but according to multiple sources, that isn’t going to happen.

The Buick brand has seen strong growth over the past year thanks to new models like the LaCrosse, Enclave and the Regal with the 2012 Buick Verano expected to help this affordably luxury brand to enter the C-segment – with more success expected with the recently announced 2012 Verano MSRP of $23,470 (with the $885 destination fee).

GM and its domestic partners in China had a record August with sales up 13.4 percent year over year. Total sales on an annualized basis were 205,885 units with Buick being a strong driving force.

General Motors had another good month in August 2011, moving 218,479 vehicles for an improvement of 18% over August last year – making them the top dog in terms of sales volume and third behind Nissan and Chrysler in terms of growth.

General Motors had another strong month in July 2011, posting an improvement in sales of 7.6% over July 2010 with their total of 214,915 vehicles making them America’s bestselling automaker group.

Automakers are always trying to one-up the competition with various incentives and features by General Motors has announced that they will be the first company in the US to offer free auto insurance on new vehicles – but only in two states.

Once again General Motors has claimed the top spot in the American auto industry with a 10.5% improvement over June 2010 allowing them to sell 215,358 vehicles in June 2011.

The Buick LaCrosse midsize luxury sedan will get a revised 303hp direct-injected V6 for the 2012 model year, with no fuel mileage penalty.

The Buick Regal GS, the highest-performance version of the luxury brand's smallest sedan, will have 270hp and 295ft-lbs of torque from a 2.0L turbocharged Ecotec 4cyl engine.

Call them what you will, but stop-start vehicles (SSV) that go by the names of micro hybrids and idle-stop vehicles enable gasoline engines to turn off when vehicles are slowed down or stopped. The net effect per Pike Research is up to 10% less fuel consumption, less emissions and at a cost lower than full hybrids.

A somewhat misleading sticker price of $29,960 has been announced for the 2012 Buick LaCrosse with eAssist but strong highway mileage numbers offset that somewhat.

According to the latest Buick news release, across-the-board use of direct injection in the Buick lineup is helping to take translation layers out of the delivery process to reduce both fuel consumption and emissions.

General Motors had a rough month like many other automakers in the Japanese-disaster-hit May 2011 but with a miniscule decline of just over 1%, the four remaining brands of GM were able to keep the automaker atop the sales chart for the US auto industry.