Buick delivers modern elegance with new LaCrosse sedan (pictures)

LOS ANGELES -- The 2017 Buick LaCrosse made its first appearance at the Los Angeles Auto Show, a redesigned large premium sedan with front-wheel-drive taking its design direction from the Buick Avenir concept shown at this year's Detroit auto show.

No LED headlights yet on the LaCrosse, as Buick sticks with traditional high-intensity discharge lamps.

Under the hood the LaCrosse benefits from a new generation of GM's 3.6-liter direct injected V-6. Good for 305 horsepower, it uses idle-stop technology and cylinder deactivation to save fuel.

Buick increases the size of the LaCrosse slightly, improving interior space, and adds sound-deadening material to promote a quieter cabin.

With electric power steering, Buick adds lane keeping assist to the LaCrosse, adding steering input to prevent lane drift.

A fastback design puts the back glass at a heavily raked angle leading down toward the trunk, while rear fenders gain prominence without looking too aggressive.

The Buick badge gains some color, while the twin exhausts are hidden in the rear fascia.

In the GM family, Buick is intended as a premium brand, short of Cadillac's luxury segment, yet the cabin materials here look very upscale.

The LaCrosse treats rear-seat passengers to their own climate control.

Buick fits the instrument cluster with an 8-inch color LCD, allowing for extensive informational screens.

A new eight-speed automatic transmission helps with the fuel economy, and Buick minimizes the shifter size in the cabin.

Buick's IntelliLink infotainment system uses an 8-inch touchscreen and supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.