When revealed at the Detroit Motor Show, the Avista concept caused quite a bit of stir thanks to its impressive styling and "make-it-happen" reception.
Unfortunately, Buick never intended to throw the Avista into production, a fact confirmed by the car maker’s vice president Tony DiSalle in an interview with Wards Auto: “[The Avista] was purely a concept and meant to generate some buzz...No other plans for now.”
DiSalle did throw superlatives such as “phenomenal” and “unreal” when describing the public’ reaction. Still, this wasn’t enough for it to move beyond the concept stage.
Buick's VP even debunked the rumor that the Avista concept would be converted from a coupe to a sedan.
“Regal is the athlete in our lineup, and in fact Regal owners are our lowest-age buyers at 47 years old. Regal is a premium sedan in the midsize-car segment, and while the growth now is in crossovers, Regal is still very important because the midsize segment is huge and we need a volume car in that segment. Speculation about Regal is just that, speculation.”
To sadden Buick fans a little bit more, DiSalle continued saying the Avista isn’t even a styling exercise made to express Buick’s future design theme, as that particular role belongs to the another concept:
“The Avenir shows the new front-end styling at Buick (that) first shows up in the ʼ17 LaCrosse and will be on all our vehicles over the next two years.”