Have you had the opportunity to browse the latest new Buick vehicles to arrive on the market? These vehicles are changing how people see the luxury brand, which has reduced its average buyer age by 6 years over the last five. As Tom Libby, Senior Automotive analyst for market researcher R.L. Pock & Co. states, "They've changed their product portfolio, they're discounting the Lucerne - and the Regal has done quite well and they're targeting it toward a younger customer. . . Also the Verano was just introduced and is targeted toward a younger customer."¹

The auto industry has reached a nearly complete recovery since its crash a few years ago, and all automakers are benefiting. However, when we heard one of our favorite brands that struggled hardest, Chrysler is back on top, we were ecstatic. The brand posted a net income of $473 million for the first quarter of 2012, which is up more than 300 percent vs. last year's numbers. These gains predominately came from 40 percent higher sales in the U.S., and they're the company's highest since the height of the automobile industry's success in 1998. That also makes profits the highest they have been since the brand emerged from bankruptcy 2009.

It's been quite a few years (forty, to be precise) since Dodge was a large part of the police cruiser market. These days, officers seem to be predominately driving Fords. Now that the often-used Ford Crown Victoria is being axed, however, we could see a Dodge SUV cruiser in our rearview mirrors once again.

The 2012 Moab event has yet to take place, but that doesn't mean that auto brands are teasing their concepts ahead of time! Take Jeep for example; the auto brand has been teasing us with three of-the-wall concepts that are sure to turn heads at the annual Easter Jeep Safari event in Moab, Utah: the Jeep Mighty FC, the Jeep J-12, and the Jeep Wrangler Active, all of which harken back to such quirky concepts as the Jeep Forward Control and the Jeep Gladiator pickup truck.

The Chevy Cruze is already a popular compact sedan, but it could see an even larger increase in interest with its new diesel powertrain- available for the 2013 or 2014 model year. The Cruze already has an Eco model option to save consumers money at the gasoline pump that achieves 42 mpg highway.

Jeep is at it again. The auto brand seems to continue to garner awards in all sorts of categories, and its four most recent wins come from some very reputable sources. The brand's two best-selling vehicles, the 2012 Jeep Wrangler and the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee, were the recipients of these awards, which are as follows:

The GMC brand has been working hard lately to ensure its drivers' comfort levels are at their highest with new "virtual" hot and cold cabin technologies. As Jeff Bozeman, also called "the Iceman" explains, "Maybe it's my Dutch heritage, but I'm hyper-focused on finding ways to improve driver and passenger comfort while using the absolute minimum amount of energy possible."¹ These energies have been primarily targeted at the 2012 GMC Terrain, which is now available at Battison Auto Group, located at Hwy 81 Duncan, OK 73534.

There's only one month left to apply for the Buick Achievers Scholarship Program, so get your act together, students! This Buick scholarship program awards two levels of scholarships to passionate students across the United States. One level is 100 scholarships of up to $25,000 renewable for up to four years of college tuition (plus an additional renewable year for 5-year engineering programs). The second level is built of one-thousand one-time awards of $2,000.

After six long years of production for the aging Dodge Caliber hatchback, the Dodge brand has decided to axe the model due to less-than-ideal sales. The last Caliber was produced in mid-December 2011 in Belvidere, Illinois. Here at Battison Auto Group, we always really liked the sporty hatchback, and we're confused as to why it wasn't as successful as the company hoped it would be. The Caliber was launched in early 2006 to replace the Dodge Neon sedan and coupe, and its annual sales were the highest at just over 100k in 2007. After this point, however, sales continued to drop with every year that passed.

Buick is building some serious fan anticipation with its new 2013 Encore Crossover images on social networking site Facebook. Embracing the most popular way to get enthusiasts excited about new models, Buick is releasing a photo of the new Encore in four separate parts; the complete picture will be revealed each week leading up to the vehicle's debut on January 10, 2012 at the Detroit Auto Show.