After Years of Neglect, Buick Is Back on the Front Burner at GM

• GM is demonstrating a legitimate effort to prioritize Buick as an important near-luxury brand that occupies the gray space between Chevrolet and Cadillac.

• True, the four-vehicle lineup consists entirely of crossovers (including the three-row Enclave as a new one will be revealed next week). The new compact Envista, with its unique coupe-like roofline, is selling well.

• “We’re bringing life back to Buick design,” GM President Mark Reuss told journalists this week. “I’m excited about what the brand is becoming again.”

A number of factors conspired years ago to make Buick a marginalized brand in the US: Corporate parent General Motors was slathering resources on profitable trucks and SUVs at Chevrolet and GMC, while spinning its wheels trying to position Cadillac to challenge BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the luxury space. And GM’s all-in strategy to pursue a battery-electric portfolio in recent years was focused mainly on Chevrolet and Cadillac.

It appeared Buick was being overlooked—even ignored—while the other brands were getting most of the attention. For years, Buick was doing well enough in China as GM’s most popular brand that it was conceivable this marque dating back to 1903 would end its long run in the US and focus instead on the China market.

But non-domestic brands aren’t doing so well these days in China—a Wild West of 250 vehicle marques, where Buick’s sales have declined from more than 1.2 million units in 2016 to barely a half-million in 2023.

All this background sets the stage for what appears today as GM’s legitimate effort to prioritize Buick as an important near-luxury brand that occupies the gray space between Chevrolet and Cadillac. For years, that positioning was implied but without much tangible evidence on the product side.

But that’s changing. The brand has a fresh portfolio with a sharp “New Face” styling language inspired by the sleek, shapely Wildcat battery-electric coupe concept from 2022 (which is the fifth Wildcat concept in Buick’s history).

True, the four-vehicle lineup consists entirely of crossovers (including the three-row Enclave), and none are as dramatic as the Wildcat. But the new compact Envista, with its coupe-like roofline, is uniquely handsome and found its way into nearly 10,000 driveways in the first three months of this year.

It also makes sense that GM is pivoting to Buick now as its entire portfolio has internal-combustion engines while overall demand for battery-electric vehicles has slowed and as GM and other automakers have pushed back some of their EV market launches.

Sales success on the ICE side pads the GM bankroll as the unpredictable EV market twists and turns. And Buick sales in the US are growing: 44,385 units in the first quarter (up 16.4%) and 167,030 vehicles in 2023 (up an impressive 61% over 2022).

Buick is preparing to welcome its first battery-electric car in 2025. We wait for details on that vehicle, but Buick in China already sells two crossover EVs: the Electra E4 and E5. Launching US production—if that happens—would qualify that Buick EV for federal tax credits of $7500.

This is a big week for Buick news. In addition to the unveiling of the refreshed Envision two-row crossover, Buick hosted media at the all-new General Motors Design West studio at the Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, to shed light on the brand’s new Exceptional by Design tagline.

The brand’s top designers have drawn inspiration from groundbreaking Buicks from the past, such as the Wildcat II and the 1938 Buick Y-Job, which stands as the auto industry’s first concept car from the industry’s first rockstar designer, Harley Earl.

“Harley Earl’s most expressive work across GM was on behalf of Buick,” Bob Boniface, director of Global Buick Exterior/Interior Design, told journalists visiting the airy new design studio, where clay models are shaped both by hand and by precise robot carvers.

In addition to covering the exterior styling of the four current Buicks (the Encore GX, Envista, Envision, and Enclave), the Buick design team detailed aspects inside, such as the perforated leather, contrast stitching, tighter fit-and-finish, premium materials, and an “elevated sensory experience” to put your Buick a step above your Chevrolet.

“We’re bringing life back to Buick design,” GM President Mark Reuss told journalists during this week’s design studio tour. “I’m excited about what the brand is becoming again.”

It’s hard to identify extensive design correlations between the Y-Job and the Wildcat II with the modern Buicks so many years later. But Boniface says the four current Buicks—including the 2025 Enclave soon to be revealed—all share the low, wide mouth (or grille) and high-set headlamps with the old concepts. But the round headlights of old have been replaced by sleek, narrow pointed bars resembling the business end of a spear.

And another aspect of Buick’s “New Face”—inspired by the most recent Wildcat concept—is a gently sloping hood that descends to a sharp line that sweeps across the front end, separating the headlights above from the wide-mouth grille below.

Buick designers started working on the Wildcat concept in 2018, and Boniface says it was intended purely as an internal design exercise. But Mark Reuss saw it during a studio tour and had a different idea. “Reuss saw it and said, ‘Why not build it and show it to the public?’” Work began in earnest.

When the latest Wildcat concept was unveiled virtually during the pandemic days of June 2022, fans may have envisioned a sedan or coupe joining the Buick lineup. (How hard could it be to revive the Regal?)

But Duncan Aldred, global vice president for Buick and GMC, warns against such notions. He tells Autoweek that Buick customers are not asking for sedans, coupes, or a convertible. He referred to the LaCrosse and Regal as “beautiful cars… but that market went away.” The LaCrosse was discontinued in 2019, followed by the Regal in 2020.

Besides, he says the fresh lineup of crossovers is gaining traction with Buick customers for their functionality and spaciousness. “Once people get in these (crossovers), they don’t go back” to sedans, Aldred tells Autoweek.

For now, Buick management will continue to shape the brand not for luxury but as a “premium” player that is “just touching luxury,” as described by Molly Peck, Buick’s chief marketing officer. “Buick should be for those wanting the amenities of a luxury brand without the traditional luxury stereotypes,” she says.

This strategy is not a surefire bet to secure Buick’s long-term future. Several other players trying to occupy this near-luxury space—namely Acura, Mazda, Volvo, and to an extent Lincoln, Infiniti, and Genesis—have struggled to gain a foothold, to find their place in this niche.

But Reuss is encouraged by how the newest Buicks are being received by consumers. “People are giving Buick a chance,” he says.

Have you been paying attention to Buick’s new model lineup? If so, please share your impressions below.