Buick Envision flaunts elegance while Avista sports muscle

Buick Avista concept debuts in Detroit (Photo: Nadine Filion/Autofocus.ca)

Buick took the covers off its new Avista sports coupe concept, ahead of the car’s official debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

The Avista concept taps into the brand’s performance heritage, but delivers that performance in a package completely drawn from the company’s modern design language. “There is elegant simplicity in the Avista’s surfaces, which speak to the purity of the car’s performance, and a timeless beauty that’s a hallmark of Buick design,” Bryan Nesbitt, Buick executive director of global design, said in a press release.

The concept boasts a 400-hp 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged V-6 with Active Fuel Management and an eight-speed automatic transmission. While Buick hasn’t said anything about the car making it to production, we can speculate that it'll make use of GM’s Camaro (Alpha) platform.

In addition to the flashy grand tourer-style concept car, the company also unveiled the 2016 Buick Envision, a luxury compact crossover set to hit Canadian showrooms in the second quarter of 2016.

The Envision crossover SUV will come powered by a 252-hp 2.0-litre turbocharged engine with stop-start and offer more cargo space and passenger space than some competitive CUVs from Acura and Lincoln. Heated front and rear seats and steering wheel come standard on the Envision, and that rear seat also slides and splits; and an 8-inch Buick IntelliLink screen, controlled via thumb-toggle switches on the steering wheel is also standard. A panoramic moonroof is optional. Buick is also touting the Envision’s HiPer Strut front suspension as they key to the vehicle’s “segment-challenging” driving dynamics; and notes it comes with Buick’s first active Twin Clutch AWD system.