LA MOTOR SHOW: Buick LaCrosse

Buick has revealed its third-generation LaCrosse at the Los Angeles motor show overnight, providing some vital clues to Holden's imported 2018 Commodore, which will share its platform and interior.

The exterior design of North America's latest LaCrosse was heavily influenced by the Avenir concept that debuted at the Detroit show in January, and which was created by Holden designers in Melbourne.

However, while the Avenir show car was rear-wheel drive, the LaCrosse shares its new front/all-wheel drive E2XX platform with Chevrolet's new Malibu and Opel's next Insignia, on which the new German-built Commodore will be based.

Therefore, like the latest Malibu (which is yet to be confirmed for Australia), the new LaCrosse is claimed to be stronger but up to 300 pounds (135kg) lighter than the model it replaces.

This is despite the fact the 2017 LaCrosse, which goes on sale in the US in June 2016, is as big as the current Commodore, riding on a 2902mm wheelbase – up 65mm -- and measuring 5016mm long, 1867mm wide and 1464mm high (making it 15mm longer, 10mm wider and 40mm lower than the model it replaces).

Like the Chevy Malibu and Buick LaCross, the next Insignia from GM's European brand takes on a five-door liftback-style exterior that will also be seen on the next Commodore, which will again be available in wagon – but not ute – form.

But instead of the LaCross's new 3.6-litre direct-injection petrol V6, which produces 227kW of power and 363Nm of torque and is aided by idle-stop technology, the 2018 Commodore is expected to be available exclusively with four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines. As in the LaCrosse, all-wheel drive will also be part of the package on some models.

However, what motoring.com.au understands will carry over directly to the next Insignia (and therefore Commodore) is the 2017 LaCross interior, which was also previewed in the Avenir concept and has a similar dashboard design and infotainment system as the latest Opel Astra that arrives here late next year.

Significantly, the new LaCrosse also ushers in a redesigned Buick badge with the return of a three-color (red, silver and blue) tri-shield moniker accented by wing-shaped elements, positioned on darkened waterfall bars of the car's new grille design.

Motoring.com.au understands elements of the new Buick logo will be incorporated into a redesigned Holden badge again dominated by the GMH lion.

New LaCrosse components also likely to carry over to at least some versions of the next Insignia/Commodore also include new five-link rear suspension, HiPer Strut front suspension, electronically controlled Continuous Damping Control active suspension with selectable Touring and Sport modes, an all-new dual-clutch all-wheel drive system, wireless phone charging, 8.0-inch colour touch-screen with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and Wi-Fi hotspot, HID headlights, LED tail-lights and wheel sizes up to 20-inch.

Safety features extend to automatic Front Pedestrian Braking, Lane Keep Assist, Lane Departure Warning alerts, Automatic Park Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control, Forward Automatic Braking, Forward Collision Alert, Lane Change Alert with Side Blind Zone Alert and Rear Vision Camera.

“The new LaCrosse is drop-dead gorgeous and signals the next phase of Buick’s international momentum,” said Duncan Aldred, vice-president of Global Buick. “Its quietness, comfort and connectivity were developed to set new standards in the segment, supported by technologies not offered on competitors such as the Lexus ES.”