2017 Buick Encore gets new look, more tech

Buick’s Encore has been a major hit for the brand, and now the automaker is introducing a substantial update to keep the sales momentum going.

|
Seth Wenig/AP/File
The new 2017 Buick Encore is displayed during a media preview in New York as part of the New York International Auto Show (March 22, 2016).

Buick’s Encore has been a major hit for the brand.

Landing in showrooms in early 2013, the subcompact crossover arrived just in time to take advantage of a splurge in demand for smaller, more fuel-efficient crossovers.

The Encore is Buick’s top seller in the United States and despite it being on the market for a few years without any changes, its sales continue to soar. Encore sales were up 34 percent for the first two months of 2016, extending a year-over-year sales increase streak to 26 months.

Buick is now introducing a substantial update to keep the sales momentum going. The changes aren’t a major surprise as we saw them already on the Encore’s Opel twin, the Mokka X, but now we can confirm specifications for our market.

The updated Encore goes on sale this fall, as a 2017 model, and makes its debut today at the 2016 New York Auto Show. Among the changes is a fresh, sculpted front section that looks considerably more handsome than before. LED headlights are also available for the first time, and at the rear the standard LED tail lights feature a new design.

Inside, there’s a less clustered dash as well as some nice touches such as bright accents and contrast stitching. The biggest change, though, is the introduction of Buick’s latest IntelliLink infotainment system which features an 8-inch touchscreen as well as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration. Other tech goodies include a new gauge cluster with 4.2-inch screen, keyless entry and start, and standard OnStar 4G LTE with a Wi-Fi hotspot. A handful of electronic driver aids are also offered.

The sole powertrain remains a turbocharged 1.4-liter 4-cylinder, and it once again comes in two forms: one with direction injection and a slightly less powerful one without direct injection. No numbers for the 2017 model were released but as a reference the current Encore offers 148 horsepower as standard or 153 hp with Sport Touring trim. We can confirm that the sole transmission remains a 6-speed automatic, and buyers will once again have the choice between front- and all-wheel drive.

Buick will also use this week’s New York Auto Show to present the stunning Avista concept in a new color. Sadly, we hear there are no plans to build the Avista despite its internals being common to the Chevrolet Camaro and Cadillac ATS Coupe.

This article first appeared at MotorAuthority.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to 2017 Buick Encore gets new look, more tech
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2016/0323/2017-Buick-Encore-gets-new-look-more-tech
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe