2025 Buick Enclave Loses 2 Cylinders, Gains Sport Touring Trim

• An all-new 2025 Buick Enclave will arrive in showrooms late this summer, capping a busy 18-month stretch that sees the entire lineup either refreshed or fully redesigned.

• This third-generation Enclave is larger, switches from V6 to four-cylinder power, gets fresh sheetmetal, and will feature a 30-inch screen inside.

• The new interior definitely skews toward the premium side of the large crossover market, especially in two-tone Avenir dress.

Remember when BMW routinely sold more than 100,000 3-Series sedans in the US? It was several years ago now, as the market was turning to crossovers and SUVs. Last year, 3-Series sales barely reached the 34,000-unit threshold in the US.

And while there isn’t much connection between the 3-Series and the three-row Buick, the Enclave crossover is guilty of supplanting such sedans and gobbling up their market share.

It’s no surprise, then, that the Enclave handily outsold the 3-Series last year (with nearly 40,000 units) while also being a bit player in the large crossover segment dominated by higher-volume players like the Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, and Chevy Traverse (the Enclave’s platform-mate), all of which sold more than 100,000 units last year.

The tale of the 3-Series also helps answer a question we still often hear: Why doesn’t Buick sell sedans anymore?

Arriving as a 2007 model, the Enclave was arguably Buick’s first legitimate crossover (unless you loved the Rendezvous), and its popularity led eventually to a fleet that now numbers four, with the Enclave positioned atop the Envision, Envista, and Encore GX.

Late this summer, an all-new 2025 Buick Enclave will arrive in showrooms, capping a busy 18-month stretch that sees the entire Buick lineup either refreshed or fully redesigned.

This third-generation Enclave—sharing its architecture with the Traverse and GMC Acadia and being assembled at General Motors’ Lansing Delta Township plant in Michigan—is larger, switches from V6 to four-cylinder power, gets fresh sheetmetal, and will feature a 30-inch screen inside.

The trim levels have been repackaged, too. The ’24 Enclave trim walk started at Essence ($46,690 base price with destination), then moved up to Premium ($53,990 to start), then Avenir ($60,290). The ’25 model range will start at Preferred, then step up to the new ST (Sport Touring targeting younger customers), then Avenir.

Pricing for the new Enclave will come closer to the sales launch later this summer. For clues, we can look to the new Traverse from the same platform, which now starts at $42,390 with destination. That’s a sizable jump from the previous Traverse, which started at $35,915.

Overall, the new Enclave is longer, wider, and taller than the model it replaces.

From the profile, the overall form looks largely unchanged, but viewing the Enclave from the front reveals significant differences: a wide, trapezoidal grille opening; narrow, pointed headlamps that each resemble a crow’s beak; and a straight line that sweeps across the front, above the grille, representing the break of the waterfall hoodline.

This general theme—Buick’s “New Face,” as the design team calls it—has already been displayed on the new Encore GX, Envista, and the upcoming Envision. From the back, the wraparound taillamps protrude from the sides and flank the redesigned Buick tri-shield badge for a clean, upscale look.

Another big change comes under the hood, where the workhorse 3.6-liter V6 will be replaced by a turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder rated at 328 hp and 326 lb-ft of torque. Don’t worry about the V6 going away; it only made 310 hp and 266 lb-ft.

All-wheel drive is optional on this front-wheel-drive Enclave, and the new powertrain includes an eight-speed automatic transmission, which replaces a nine-speed in the previous Enclave. Towing is capped at 5000 pounds.

For most Enclave shoppers, the exterior styling and horsepower will be secondary to the features, styling, and amenities inside.

The new interior definitely skews toward the premium side of the large crossover market, especially in two-tone Avenir dress. In addition to black, you can opt for off-white leather and light gray carpeting, with royal blue trim on the steering wheel and across the upper instrument panel and doors. Another Avenir color combo replaces the blue trim with “mocca” brown.

Solid color interior offerings for Preferred and ST trim are black and gray.

But loads of standard features run across all three trims: the curved glass 30-inch infotainment screen, wireless phone charging, active noise cancellation, 126 interior ambient colors, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, seven surround-view cameras, auto-sense power liftgate, first-row heated seats, and Bose audio system.

Standard safety features are blind zone steering assist, intersection automatic emergency braking, traffic sign recognition, lane-departure warning, and lane-keep assist. GM’s Super Cruise hands-free driving technology is available on all three trims, with automated lane-change capability.

The more you spend, the more you get. Preferred and ST trim gets 12 speakers with the Bose audio system, while the Avenir gets 16. Standard 20-inch rims (in different styles) appear on the Preferred and ST trims, while Avenir gets pearl nickel-finish 22-inch wheels.

Third-row seats fold manually in the lower two trims, but the Avenir comes with standard power controls to fold the second-row seats and to raise or lower the third-row seats.

Enclave Avenir also gets a panoramic sunroof, rain-sensing wipers, ventilated and massaging front seats, heated second-row outboard seats, and continuous damping control for a smoother ride.

The Sport Touring model has high-gloss black exterior trim and machine-faced wheels, along with a flat-bottom steering wheel.

Buick managers aren’t sharing projected sales of the new model or the trim mix, but they say more than 25% of Enclave customers have been opting for the top-of-the-range Avenir.

Do you think the Enclave is a proper flagship for Buick, or can only a production version of the Wildcat EV fill that role? Please comment below.