Buick Regal Gets the Premium Avenir Treatment for 2019
Want diamond-quilted stitching in your Buick Regal? There’s an Avenir for that. Amid news that shoppers are snapping up Avenir trim levels as fast as the marque can make ’em, Buick is extending its upscale sub-brand to another car in the U.S.: the Regal. Citing rising demand over the past few years for mid-size cars priced from $30,000 to $40,000, Buick says the 2019 Regal Avenir has the aforementioned quilted seats plus plenty of other Avenir-branded details, from the floormats and door sills to the head restraints.
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It also gets an upgraded multimedia system with cloud-connected apps similar to what’s in the redesigned GMC Terrain, Buick spokeswoman Arianna Kughn told Cars.com. (Buick and GMC are both brands under GM.) The system allows owners to personalize their preferences with more seamless integration of third-party apps like Pandora, Kughn said. The Regal Avenir will also include Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, a navigation system, Bose premium audio and wireless smartphone charging.
Outside, the Avenir gets 19-inch Pearl Nickel wheels and a mesh upper grille, both unique to the trim level. A blind spot warning system with rear cross-traffic alert is standard; adaptive cruise control is optional. The Avenir gets the same turbocharged four-cylinder (250 horsepower, 260 pounds-feet of torque, channeled through a nine-speed automatic transmission) as other Regal trims save for the 310-hp Regal GS.
Buick says the Avenir accounts for 1 in 5 Enclave sales and marks the fastest-selling version of the LaCrosse. The Regal marks the third U.S. model to offer an Avenir variant, though a fourth Buick in China can also come Avenir-ified: the GL8 minivan, surely the envy of soccer parents nationwide if GM were to bring it stateside.
Pricing will come closer to the Avenir’s on-sale date early this fall as an edition of the front-wheel-drive 2019 Regal Sportback. Buick won’t offer the Avenir with all-wheel drive or on the Regal TourX wagon, according to Kughn. The 2018 Regal Sportback starts around $26,000 with destination and tops out around $40,000 with options on front-wheel-drive models. Given that Avenir editions of the LaCrosse and Enclave top their respective price ranges, it’s a safe bet the Regal Avenir will do the same.
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