DETROIT -- Buick’s next-generation LaCrosse sedan will adopt the face of the buzzed-about Avenir concept when it goes on sale in the U.S. next year, a look that will spread across the brand’s lineup over the next few years.
Buick said in a statement Tuesday that the wider grille with a distinctive wing-shaped design will be used across the brand’s portfolio “by 2018.”
The 2017 LaCrosse will be first to adopt the new front-end appearance when it arrives in showrooms in the second half of next year.
Tony DiSalle, Buick’s U.S. vice president of marketing, planned to reveal an image of the new design today during an appearance at the Automotive News Marketing Seminar in New York. Buick said the redesigned ’17 LaCrosse will be shown at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November.
The Avenir concept was among the most talked-about reveals of the auto show here in January. Buick executives at the time said it was a design exercise that pointed to styling cues for future Buick entries.
“The Avenir concept shattered expectations of what a Buick could be and the 2017 LaCrosse promises to do the same,” Buick chief Duncan Aldred said in a statement. “Its expressive design represents a break from convention and highlights the progressiveness in all new Buick models.”
The LaCrosse will be built on an “all-new chassis that is stronger yet lighter than the current model,” which Buick said will offer more dynamic driving. It’s the latest version of GM’s Epsilon global sedan platform, which also will underpin the redesigned 2016 Chevrolet Malibu and future redesigns of the Opel Insignia, Buick Regal and other General Motors vehicles.
The next-gen LaCrosse will use a five-link rear suspension that Buick said will offer a more responsive ride, an upgrade over today’s four-link setup. Buick called it a “premium feature not found on many other full-size luxury models.”
Buick’s U.S. lineup is slated for an overhaul during the next two years after having grown stale -- its most recent new or redesigned entry was the Encore subcompact crossover, which went on sale two and a half years ago.
The Cascada convertible is scheduled for a first-quarter U.S. launch, followed by the LaCrosse and likely the new Envision compact crossover in the second half of 2016. A redesigned Verano compact sedan, Enclave large crossover and Regal midsize sedan are slated to arrive sometime in 2017, industry sources have estimated.
Buick’s U.S. sales fell 2.6 percent through August.
