2016 Buick LaCrosse Earns Five-Star Safety Rating From Federal Government

WASHINGTON — The 2016 Buick LaCrosse sedan earned the highest five-star overall safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The 2016 LaCrosse received five stars in the front and side crash tests and four stars in the rollover crash test. The rating applies to front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive versions of the car.

The 2016 LaCrosse is expected to arrive at Buick dealerships this summer.

Standard safety equipment includes a rearview camera, antilock brakes, electronic stability control, traction control and eight airbags, including rear-seat thorax airbags.

Two Driver Confidence packages add more safety equipment. The Driver Confidence 1 package is available on 1SL, 1SP and 1SR models. It includes forward-collision alert, lane-departure warning, lane-change alert, side blind-zone alert, rear cross-traffic alert, HID headlights, foglights and a head-up display.

The Driver Confidence 2 package, which is available on 1SP and 1SR models, adds collision preparation with collision-mitigation braking, full-speed-range adaptive cruise control and a Safety Alert seat for the driver. The special seat vibrates depending on the direction of a crash threat.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has not rated the 2016 LaCrosse, a carryover vehicle. But the 2015 LaCrosse earned "good" scores in all Institute crash tests.

Source:  http://www.edmunds.com/

2017 Buick Encore Spy Shots

Buick’s Encore subcompact, launched in early 2013, arrived just in time to take advantage of a splurge in demand for smaller, more fuel-efficient crossovers. Buick sold 138,218 of them globally in 2014, a staggering 42 percent rise on sales numbers just one year prior, and this year is shaping up to be even better.

Nevertheless, to ensure the Encore stays fresh and features the latest technology, Buick will introduce an updated model next year. A prototype for the vehicle has just been spotted testing in Europe. Though Buicks aren’t sold in Europe, the Encore is twinned by a model called the Mokka sold by General Motors Company’s [NYSE:GM] European arm Opel, so it’s not unusual to see development taking place across the pond.

We’re expecting only minor visual changes for the Encore as this only represents a mid-cycle update. The camouflage gear on this prototype suggests a few tweaks to the headlights, new bumpers and possibly a new grille. Look for the fog lights to sport a similar design to the one on Buick’s Envision small crossover, which is due in the U.S. later this year, as a 2016 model. This updated Encore will arrive sometime next year, as a 2017 model.

It’s not clear what powertrains will be offered in the 2017 Encore, though we could see the vehicle adopt GM’s latest EcoTec range of engines. These engines should also appear in the next-generation version of Buick’s Verano compact sedan, also due as a 2017 model.

The current Encore is powered exclusively by the same turbocharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder that's available in several Chevrolets including the Trax, the Encore’s corporate cousin. Incidentally, an updated version of the Trax should appear shortly after the updated Encore makes its debut.

Source: http://www.motorauthority.com/