(2013 GMC Terrain Denali Shown Right)

The 2013 GMC Terrain will be offered in three different trim levels, including the SLE, SLT and Denali.

And they are all jam-packed with luxury-car worthy amenities that come standard with the vehicle.

Seventeen-inch alloy wheels, heated side-view mirrors, rear-view camera, OnStar, Bluetooth and a six-speaker sound system are just some of the features that come standard for the base SLE-1 trim level.

SEE PHOTOS OF THE NEW TERRAIN

And for the SLE-2 trim, an eight-way power driver seat, leather-wrapped steering wheel, eight-speaker Pioneer audio system and upgraded cloth upholstery will be added to the package.

Heated front seats, remote engine start and leather upholstery are all offered up on the SLT-1 trim level, while 18-inch chromed wheels, sunroof, height-adjustable power liftgate and driver-seat memory functionality will be a part of the SLT-2.

The SLT-2 will also feature a safety package that includes a lane-departure warning system, forward-collision alert and rear park assist.

And for the highest trim level, the Denali model of the 2013 GMC Terrain, everything that comes standard with the SLT-2 will be a part of the top-level package as well as model-specific wheels, rear cross-traffic and side blind-zone alert systems, eight-way power passenger seat and unique exterior and interior trim detailing.

All trim levels, except the SLE, will have the option to add a navigation system, while a dual-screen DVD rear-entertainment system are available on the SLT-2 and Denali.

The 2013 GMC Terrain has also undergone some changes under the hood with the addition of a new 3.6-liter six-cylinder engine, for every model except the SLE-1, that pumps out 40 more ponies over last year’s 3.0-liter six-cylinder and features 272 pound-feet of torque.

Pricing for the 2013 GMC Terrain starts at $26,235.

Source: [Latinos Post]

(2013 Buick Encore Shown Right)

Buick’s new Encore small SUV is a jewel box.

That’s the trend today: full-featured SUVs on smaller wheel-bases; witness the popular BMW X1 and VW Tiguan.

If you’ve ever admired the sumptuous curves of Buick’s full-size Enclave SUV — but you don’t need, or want, a 5,000-pound vehicle — the Encore is a nearly-perfect three-fifths scale copy.

Full disclosure: This is no family hauler, unless your family consists of a spouse, a toddler and a Chihuahua. The Encore’s small wheelbase and modest powerplant — which is more suited to singles and couples — is designed for comfort more than cargo. Still, it’s the perfect starter SUV for young upscale buyers, and an attractive down-size option for baby boomers whose babies have left the nest.

Encores have just started arriving at Integrity Buick in Chattanooga, and we snagged a Carbon Black Metallic copy with the midtrim Leather Group package. There were three Encores on the ground there earlier this week.

I tell import buyers all the time, “Take a look at Buick.” And the Encore could be Exhibit A in this line of reasoning.

STYLING AND COMFORT

The Encore is a show-stopper when it comes to styling. On a sunny day, our shimmering black test car was bouncing light around like an onyx disco ball.

I’ve always been a sucker for a black car, and the Encore wears the color well. Buick’s signature waterfall grille and tri-shield emblem give the little SUV a regal face.

There are nice touches everywhere on the Encore’s exterior: smoothly integrated roof rails, chrome embellished door handles, and gleaming seven-spoke chrome rims (a $995 option). The body has attractive character lines and undulations which trigger the aforementioned light show.

Inside, the Encore is all modern Buick, which is to say futuristic and fun. A beefy, leather-covered steering wheel frames an analog speedometer and tachometer.

Electronic functions are controlled from a cluster of buttons and dials on the lower dash — think Blackberry, not iPad — and displayed on a 7-inch color display. The leather-trimmed seats in our test SUV were comfortable and tastefully stitched. Front leg- and head-room is adequate, although back-seat space is modest by compact-SUV standards.

DRIVING IMPRESSIONS

The Encore is powered by a 1.4-liter, four-cylinder turbocharged engine, which squeezes 138 horsepower out of its tiny displacement. Mated to a slick, six-speed transmission, the turbo spools up quickly and delivers adequate pace off the mark.

The Encore manages to return 33 miles per gallon highway and 25 miles per gallon city — or roughly equivalent to a midsize sedan.

Unlike some small SUVs, which suffer from vibration and body lean, the Encore feels solid and trustworthy. During a test drive on secondary roads around Chickamaugua Lake, it was fun to toss around the Encore, which remained sure-footed and quiet.

BOTTOM LINE

Our test car stickers for $28,650, but looks more expensive. Interestingly, the Encore is assembled in Korea. Buick is among the top names in the auto business now in product quality, and the Encore is one of those cars you really need to see to fully appreciate. It offers incredible design bang for the buck.

Source: [Times Free Press]

Today, Buick’s IntelliLink system can do far more than place a call, and QuietTuning technologies like those in the LaCrosse luxury sedan make using voice controls easier for owners regardless of marital or relationship status.

QuietTuning is Buick’s comprehensive engineering process to reduce, block and absorb interior noise. For LaCrosse, that means features like laminated window glass, triple door seals and liquid applied sound deadening.

“There’s definitely an advantage when we’re developing voice controls in a quieter cabin,” said Sims. “The system’s ability to hear a command relies on SNR, or signal-to-noise ratio. If noise is extremely low like it is in the LaCrosse, the user’s voice, or signal, can be lower. In other words, a LaCrosse driver can easily speak to the IntelliLink system at a normal, conversational volume.”

As someone who drives an 80-mile commute each day, quietness and minimizing distractions are a personal matter for Sims. That’s helped drive him to make Buick’s IntelliLink voice commands simple, intuitive and designed around the controls drivers need most.

With IntelliLink – standard on every 2013 Buick – drivers can use voice commands to control navigation and audio functions with the push of a button while keeping eyes on the road. With a smartphone paired, IntelliLink’s voice commands can even tune to a Pandora internet radio station or “like” a song.

How does it work? Using a microphone in the cabin’s headliner – optimally placed by Sims and his team – the system uses a speech engine to match spoken words to known voice commands. When the engine finds a match, that command is executed.

“We’ve also designed the system with speaker adaptation, which means the engine is trained for different accents or dialects,” said Sims. “It can begin to predict speech patterns based on those models. Your LaCrosse remembers your speech patterns even after the car is turned off and on, but it can also identify another user and predict his or her patterns as well.”

Buick is a modern luxury brand offering vehicles with sculpted designs, luxurious interiors with thoughtful personal technologies, along with responsive-yet-efficient performance. Buick is attracting new customers with its portfolio of award-winning luxury models, including the Enclave crossover, LaCrosse sedan, Regal sport sedan, Buick Verano sedan and the all-new 2013 Encore crossover. Learn more about Buick cars and crossovers at www.buick.com, on Twitter @buick or at www.facebook.com/buick.

Source: [4-Traders]

Insure.com considered what a 40-year-old single male with a clean driving history would pay for identical coverage across scores of cars. But rates for given models often stem from crash frequency and repair costs — and that could factor into injury coverage.

“One of the big things insurers look at when they’re setting premiums is, ‘What is the history of this particular model?’ ” Insurance Institute for Highway Safety spokesman Russ Rader told us. “Vehicles like small two-door cars with big engines — they get into a lot more crashes than minivans. And so you’re going to pay more to insure a vehicle that gets into a lot more crashes and/or is more expensive to fix.”

But that could carry over toward small cars, too. Four of the study’s five worst-rated cars are compact or subcompact, and three of them start under $17,500. If a certain model lends itself toward younger, more inexperienced drivers, couldn’t that affect premiums for all shoppers?

“It can, and it certainly does at times,” Insure.com editorial director Amy Danise said. “Driver profile can definitely affect insurance rates, but I think what we’re also seeing here is size and weight [of the car] playing a huge part.”

The study focused on “purely payments for people’s medical bills,” plus lost wages, Danise added. The top and bottom cars support the notion that smaller, lighter cars tend to offer less crash protection despite good crash tests. That’s something IIHS’ Rader agrees with: Large cars register 46 deaths per million vehicle miles traveled, IIHS notes, while minicars have 82.

Source: [cars.com]

On December 13, 2012, GMC unveiled the all-new 2014 Sierra full-size pickup. The truck is the latest in a bloodline stretching over 111 years. Before the GMC badge was born, its predecessor Rapid was churning out Detroit’s first commercial trucks. The brainchild of Max Grabowsky, Rapid lead the way for GMC’s legacy of design and engineering innovation. Since then, GMC has set trends and industry standards becoming a staple on American roads and a symbol of American ingenuity and hard work.

In preparation for the new Sierra, we take a ride through GMC history in 11 trucks.

Click here to take the tour!

Source: [Complex]

Birmingham — General Motors Co.’s all-new 2013 Buick Encore — which the automaker expects will win young professionals and empty-nesters as customers — has begun shipping to U.S. dealers.

The company began shipments of the luxury small crossover last week to about 2,200 U.S. Buick dealers, who sold eight in the first weekend. The vehicle is built only in South Korea and inventory is expected to be tight, Tony DiSalle, vice president of Buick and GMC marketing said during an event Tuesday.

“We would expect this vehicle to turn very quickly on dealer lots,” he said.

U.S. Buick dealers have asked for six times the supply of Encores than the company had anticipated.

“The dealer enthusiasm is very, very strong,” DiSalle said.

The Encore, powered by a 1.4-liter turbo engine, starts at $24,950 and has a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated fuel economy rating of 25 miles per gallon city and 33 mpg highway. The small vehicle with plenty of storage space that can carry an eight-foot ladder, comes standard with 10 air bags and a rear vision camera.

The smaller crossover, which GM expects may compete with the Volkswagen Tiguan, BMW X1, Nissan Juke and Mini Countryman, gives the Buick brand five vehicles in its portfolio.

The brand is expected to roll out refreshed LaCrosse and Regal sedans in the next 12 months.

Buick officials would not comment on anticipated sales for the U.S. and DiSalle would not comment when asked if the company is considering building the Encore in the U.S.

Buick’s U.S. sales of 180,408 in 2012 were up 1.6 percent over 2011 totals. The company sold 41,042 of its new Buick Verano sedans, but sales of the Enclave SUV, LaCrosse and Regal were down compared to 2011.

But Buick said its retail sales — or those to individual customers — were up 6 percent in 2012, the highest level in six years.

DiSalle expects the Encore will help GM and Buick win customers from other automakers. The overall Buick brand’s conquest rate — or those who turn in a non-GM brand when buying a Buick — has risen from 28 percent in 2007 to more than 43 percent in 2012,and continues to climb, he said.

“I think the Encore is going to drive down the average age of Buick,” said Lloyd Biermann, marketing manager for the Buick Encore.

Source: [Detroit News]

DETROIT – The designers of the 2013 GMC Acadia crossover SUV had a lot of things to account for in developing a comfy interior – including as many as 16 pointy, sensitive elbow bones that would be part of a fully loaded eight-passenger vehicle.

General Motors global human factors engineer Joan Hertely and her team spent hundreds of hours creating resting places that considered angles, dimensions and the right materials to achieve maximum comfort.

“The process begins with benchmarking,” said Hertely, who has 12 years of armrest engineering experience. “We look at what works, what doesn’t, and start compiling criteria for width, length, angle, height, adjustment options, comfort, reach and overall design. And those factors consider door handles, cupholders and switch locations.”

Not all armrests can be treated equally, so a crossover that seats up to eight takes months of planning. The driver’s armrest needs to accommodate more controls. The front center armrest needs to both slide and open for storage, and must be level with armrests on the front doors. The four rear outboard armrests are designed with cupholders, which need to be positioned to avoid spills. Optional second-row captain’s chairs have armrests that move with the seatbacks and can be adjusted up and down, requiring additional design criteria.

“Once a layout is in place after having been evaluated and optimized over a hundred hours in a stationary buck, further testing continues out on the road,” said Hertely. “We took countless drives with Acadias, paying close attention to how each armrest feels on both elbows and forearms, because people rest their arms differently. And the cupholder integration was new, so we had to ensure a level of comfort with the holders in use.”

More new car shoppers are discovering Acadia’s purposeful engineering. October sales for Acadia were the best for that month since 2007, the model’s first year on the market. And through the first 10 months of 2012, Acadia is on track for its best sales year ever.

“I never thought I would drive anything but a BMW or a Mercedes-Benz,” said Illona Olayan, an Acadia owner from Jacksonville, Florida. “But I drove an Acadia and was amazed by the great quality and craftsmanship. I’d recommend one to any family. It’s fun, functional and good looking.”

According to auto shopping site Edmunds.com, Acadia “offers a winning combination of comfort, features, cargo space and performance in a utility-style package.” The 2012 Acadia won Edmunds’ “Best Retained Value” award for SUVs between $35,000 and $45,000, as well as a 2012 ALG Residual Value Award in the full-size utility segment.

Source: [GM Media]

• 12 craft sticks
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 (1 ounce) squares white chocolate
• 1 egg white
• 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3 drops red food coloring

DIRECTIONS

DETROIT – The Buick Verano compact luxury sedan recently received a 5-star Overall Vehicle Score for safety from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Earlier this year, Verano was named a 2012 Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Since the beginning of the 2012 model year, every Buick passenger car tested has received these highest possible ratings from both the NHTSA and IIHS.

“New car customers leaving a Buick dealership can drive away knowing they are in a vehicle with superior crash protection,” said Gay Kent, GM General Director of Vehicle Safety. “The brand’s long-running record of five-star overall vehicle scores and Top Safety Picks is a testament to our commitment to exceptional vehicle crash performance.”

In achieving the 5-Star Overall Vehicle Score, the Verano was tested under NHTSA’s revised New Car Assessment Program.  The overall score is based on frontal and side crash tests in addition to evaluation for rollover resistance. Under the rating system, performances in three test segments are combined mathematically into an “Overall Vehicle Score.”

The Verano has 10 standard air bags and the security of OnStar, a combination unmatched by any competitor. In the event of a rollover crash, sensors in the vehicle deploy standard head curtain air bags prior to impact and leave them inflated for a longer period to provide additional protection.

Verano’s advanced body structure is comprised of more than 60 percent high-strength steel that provides a protective safety cage around occupants. Other safety measures include standard four-wheel disc brakes with ABS, panic brake override, StabiliTrak electronic stability control, and a collapsible pedal system that reduces the risk of leg injury.

Every 2013 Verano comes with a standard Rear Vision Camera that displays a view from the car’s rear bumper whenever the transmission is in reverse. Verano is available with Side Blind Zone Alert and Rear Cross Traffic Alert. These two technologies share a set of radar sensors hidden in the corners of the rear bumper that may help drivers avoid crashes when changing lanes or backing.

Source: [GM Media]

DETROIT – An interior designer and blogger who owns a bed and breakfast in Pennsylvania was chosen this week by lifestyle editors of major publications to have his Buick Encore “Pinboard to Dashboard” design showcased during the 2013 New York Auto Show.

Michael Wurm Jr., whose site, Inspired by Charm, has nearly 4 million followers on Pinterest, was selected by Buick with nine other influential design, fashion and food bloggers to create pinboards in the first-of-its-kind design program launched in October.

“It’s a blogger’s dream come true. From start to finish, I was checking out what the other participants were doing and I thought everyone had a strong design,” said Wurm. “I had no idea whose design would be selected because you really got to see everyone’s style and I was in love with all of them. I have a totally different perspective of Buick now.”

One of the fastest-growing social media platforms, Pinterest invites users to organize favorite products, designs, and other items on digital “pinboards.”

The goal for the creators was to showcase how the Buick Encore luxury small crossover spoke to their personal style and life passions.

Wurm’s ideas were initially selected as one of the top five most-creative Pinterest inspiration boards based on the response the pinboards generated online and input from the Buick team.  Those five boards were then translated into a digital, fashion-inspired Buick Encore Look Book to showcase each blogger’s unique artistic vision for his or her Encore.

A majority of the more than 20 lifestyle editors who voted from publications and outlets such as Lucky, Oprah, Woman’s World, Essence, Uptown, Good Housekeeping, The Huffington Post and She Knows selected Wurm’s design.

Seventy-one percent of Pinterest’s nearly 25 million users are under the age of 45 and 50 percent are 25-44, an important market for the all-new Encore. To date, the “Pinboard to Dashboard” program has generated more than 17 million unique visitors, followers or users across Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and blogs.

“Knowing the Encore’s target audience spends a great deal of time online, and on Pinterest, we created a social strategy to reach them where they ‘live’,” said Lloyd Biermann, Buick Crossovers marketing manager. “Pinterest and this program help visually explain and reveal the beauty of the Encore from a third-party perspective. We were impressed by the level of creativity and inspiration these bloggers created with their pinboards.”

According to a recent Bizrate Insights study, 70 percent of Pinterest users say they use the site to get shopping inspiration, and 43 percent say they use it to associate with brands/retailers.

Wurm’s site shares his best furniture finds, home decorating tips, craft projects and delectable recipes.

The Buick Encore “Pinboard to Dashboard” program also featured these bloggers:

• Aly Walansky of A Little Aly-tude
• Katie Rodgers of Paper Fashion
• Jessica Sturdy of Bows & Sequins
• Julie Deily of The Little Kitchen
• Shannon Ables of The Simply Luxurious Life
• Julie Thigpen of Belle Maison 23
• Jeanne Chan of Shop Sweet Things
• Susie Anderson of We Are Not Martha
• Maia McDonald of Conundrum

The 2013 Buick Encore five-passenger luxury small crossover is designed and engineered for driver confidence and versatility. Powered by a 1.4L turbocharged engine, it has an EPA-estimated 33 mpg highway fuel economy, with a standard six-speed automatic transmission and front-wheel drive. It features purposeful, intuitive and personalized technologies and connectivity including Intellilink and QuietTuning with Buick’s first use of Bose Active Noise Cancellation.

Source: [GM Media]