The Buick Thread: Your Enclave for all things Buick

[VXR]

Their close ties aside, the front does look like the current Opel styling language with a Buick grille. Don't think the rear would fly here though.

 

[Liquid]

Do not like those wheels. The front is quite nice though.

 

[MHPALA]

The Chinese are going to eat this up.

 

[Cale]

PERK AVENIR

 

[SlipZtrEm]

I really hope this is the start of a new Buick naming scheme. After the Avenir, we'll see other sans-serif names pop up. Bring on the Buick Helvetica, or the Buick Frutiger. Sadly, Futura and Optima are already taken.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Yo Lincoln, where you at?

 

[Omnis]

This looked sort of neat to me at first. But then I saw the Ferds. Now this looks like a typical Buick. What is it about Buick and GM that their designs are so slab-sided, dull, and appliance-like? It looks like when they sit down to design a Buick, all they have is a really thick magic marker to work with.

 

[Crash]

I like how it looks. It's overall shape and how it sits seem to ooze American luxury.

 

[Endless-Wilso]

@ The other mentions of the tail lights i think if they tryed to change them to much it would look like a Cadillac to much, but yes i think this is the 3rd new car now in two days ive seen the same tail lights on.
Others being Q60 & S550.

 

[Maldoxx]

Another design masterpiece from Buick. If this thing is going to be released, it better have a good performance to justify the brilliant looking!

 

[JohnBM01]

Buick has really come a long way. You'd probably be laughed at or looked at funny if you drove a Buick (unless it's something like the Buick GNX). The Avenir is best described in one word (or with certain synonyms)- gorgeous. I love the combination of muscular lines and the various chrome accents. This is no plain jane Buick. What's that the kids say about something real cool? Oh, yeah... "yes, please!"

 

[Robin]

2012!? Not a lot of love for Buick it seems

Now that PSA has bought Opel/Vauxhall and GM will no longer have access to those model to base the cars on it will be interesting to see what they do with Buick going forward into the next generation. Which platforms will future Buick's share?

 

[homeforsummer]

It's certainly a pretty depressing lineup at the moment, but then GM's normal-car lineup in general is fairly underwhelming too - the Spark/Sonic/Cruze/Malibu aren't the most inspiring of starting points.

Cadillac's stuff is pretty nice - utilising those would make some sense I expect - but you'd not want to take any of the basic Chevy stuff.

A Camaro-based Avista and a Volt or Bolt with a bit more luxury might be neat though too.

 

[Tornado]

I'm pretty sure part of the terms of the payoff GM gave Peugeot to get rid of it is that Peugeot divests all of GM's stuff from the brand and bases everything off of their models rather GM being forced to look elsewhere to continue models currently based on Opels. Kind of a repeat of Renault's "trick people into buying crappy French cars by badging them as an AMC" scheme from the 80s.


The question really becomes who will develop the replacements of the current model generations of Buicks (and etc), since Opel has handled most of the heavy lifting of most of GM's sedan range since 2003 or so; but I'm assuming GM will just dump that task on Daewoo or something and Buick's lineup will almost exclusively be SUVs by that time anyway.

 

[homeforsummer]

I'm pretty sure part of the terms of the payoff GM gave Peugeot to get rid of it is that Peugeot divests all of GM's stuff from the brand and bases everything off of their models rather GM being forced to look elsewhere to continue models currently based on Opels. Kind of a repeat of Renault's "trick people into buying crappy French cars by badging them as an AMC" scheme from the 80s.

That's a good point actually. Wonder how long it'd last - i.e. whether there'd be a generation of actual PSA-based Buicks before GM has to go its own way entirely. Can't see Buick doing anything with the smallest stuff, but PSA's EMP2 platform has a lot of potential - it seems to spawn some pretty lightweight cars (a Peugeot 308 is 200-250lbs lighter than a Golf for instance), and they build all kinds of stuff on it - hatchbacks, wagons, crossovers, minivans, commercial vans, midsize cars. The new 508 could make a pretty sharp Buick...

 

[Robin]

I could see the new Peugeot models translating quite well to Buick's, the design language seems like a good fit. I guess it all depends on the particulars of the agreement between PSA and GM.

 

[Keef]

It's certainly a pretty depressing lineup at the moment

It's not nice or interesting, but they do look nice. I like the styling of the Regal, Lacrosse, and Enclave. In fact, I noticed that the Lacrosse and Enclave tail lights evoke the shape of the oval era lights. For us Americans, the oval lights might have been ugly but they're also classic Buick. I like them purely because nobody else did anything like it.

 

[GranTurNismo]

Second-generation Buick Envision unveiled. It will be continued to be produced in China and will likely receive the same powertrains as the Cadillac XT-4, as well as an Opel/Vauxhall version for Europe.

https://www.carscoops.com/2020/05/a...-cover-with-stylish-looks-and-plenty-of-tech/

 

[Wiegert]

an Opel/Vauxhall version for Europe.

GM Europe has been dead since 2017. The Opel/Vauxhall equivalent to this Buick came out a few months after they joined PSA.

 

[GranTurNismo]

GM Europe has been dead since 2017. The Opel/Vauxhall equivalent to this Buick came out a few months after they joined PSA.

My mistake. I had thought this car was an all-new model at first.

 

[Robin]

You have this weird situation where it has Opel styling obviously to fit in with previous Buick models, which were themselves Opel's. But because of the PSA buyout you have two entirely separate car companies with the same design language.

It's almost like looking into a future that never happened

 

[FT-1]

I find it funny that a premium SUV has virtually the same front end as a mainstream supermini:

 

[GranTurNismo]

The Century, one of Buick's most iconic and long-running nameplates, is back after an 18-year hiatus. Yet, it shares nothing in common with the Centuries of the past besides the name. Instead, it's a luxury MPV destined for the Chinese market. Buick says that new Century was designed “to meet the needs of a new generation of business elites and affluent Chinese consumers” and that it will be offered with a choice of four or six seats. It joints the GL8 Avenir, GL8 ES, and GL8 Legacy in Buick’s range of MPVs sold in China.

Those seeking the ultimate in comfort should opt for the four-seat model where Buick has fitted an in-vehicle partition wall with a 32-inch sliding screen, a Bose sound system, a 13-liter. Just a single powertrain will be offered, taking the form of an Ecotec 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with a 48-volt mild-hybrid system and a nine-speed HYDRA-MATIC intelligent transmission. Horsepower and torque numbers haven’t been released. The Century starts at about $74k USD and $96k for the range-topping Avenir trim.

https://www.carscoops.com/2022/11/2023-buick-century-is-a-luxury-mpv-for-chinas-business-elite/

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I had a suspicion this was too rad for the US market.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

Buick puts way more effort into their brand in China than in the market they originated at. It makes sense on why, but at the same time; I can't help but think Buick sales here in the US would be better if they put this level of effort into their cars.

 

[GranTurNismo]

Buick puts way more effort into their brand in China than in the market they originated at. It makes sense on why, but at the same time; I can't help but think Buick sales here in the US would be better if they put this level of effort into their cars.

Considering Buick sells far more vehicles in China versus here, that's no surprise, but I do agree. Buick's lineup for the last decade has been underwhelming at best with nothing. But their overall recipe hasn't changed: rebadged, slightly upmarket versions of existing GM products. Even as late as the mid 2000s, Buick sedans like the Lesabre, Century, and Regal were strong sellers despite being somewhat behind styling and tech wise. The same cannot be said for the 2011-2020 Regal, Verano, and LaCrosse. Part of that of course has to do with sedans dying out, but those cars just didn't seem to be of the same value and comfort of the Buicks of yesteryear. Even Buick's Avenir trim, the most unique thing the brand has to offer, is not only selling poorly, but basically no one knows it exists.

 

[Keef]

Buick puts way more effort into their brand in China than in the market they originated at. It makes sense on why, but at the same time; I can't help but think Buick sales here in the US would be better if they put this level of effort into their cars.

At some point China is going to get pissed off, nationalize all the money these foreign companies have made in China, they're going to lose all their assets like they did in Venezuela, and all the progress they'll have made will be for nothing. But hey, maybe ridiculous minivans like this is how GM can afford to give us Cadillac EVs and mid-engined Corvettes but I have a feeling those two financial tracks do not actually cross.

 

[GranTurNismo]

Third generation Buick Enclave, set for the 2025 model year, has been spied, sporting the brand's new face. Like past generations, it will remain related to the Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia.

 

[Keef]

Is it possible to get all these threads combined into this one Buick thread? @Terronium-12 @TB We've had some good discussion in those other threads but they're so dispersed - and Buick is so blah - that many of us simply forget about them.

And maybe @YSSMAN still exists to rename this thread something more relevant. Kind of hilarious that just ten years ago we thought Buick would turn into something cool but it ended up becoming GM's budget brand.

Now as for the new Enclave, it's miserable. It looks exactly like all the other new Buicks except for the tail lights which have a distinct resemblence to two other cars, the previous-gen Toyota Avalon and the Ford Escape. Both of them have the exactly same layered dropping corner treatment. Automakers really need to start getting more innovative with their light treatments.

Anyways, I rented a Buick Envision last week and drove it for several days. Completely forgettable. The interior looked the same as all new cars and it drove like a robot just like all new cars. It worked, it was a car. That's all I can say about it. I can't even imagine paying so much money for something with so little personality.

 

[05XR8]

First time seeing this thread. Y'all almost had me.