GM continues reinvention of Buick brand with new Enclave SUV

WARREN,
Mich.
—


General
Motors
has
redesigned
Buick’s
flagship
Enclave
SUV
as
the
latest
testament
to
the
automaker’s
ongoing
reinvention
of
the
roughly
125-year-old
brand.

The
updates
to
the
2025
Enclave
—
from
new
tech
to
exterior
to
interior
redesigns
—
complete
Buick’s
refresh
of
its
current
four-vehicle
lineup.
In
2022,
Buick
unveiled
an
aggressive
concept
vehicle

called
the
Wildcat,
kicking
off
the
brand’s
new
design
direction.

While
the
Enclave
is
the
latest
of
Buick’s
current
vehicles
to
receive
the
Wildcat
treatment,
it
may
not
be
the
last.
GM
is
expected
to
expand
Buick’s
lineup
with

a
new
all-electric
vehicle
as
soon
as
this
year
and
is
conducting
several “design
studies”
to
determine
what’s
next
for
the
once-dominant
American
brand.

“I’m
really
excited
about
what
the
brand
is
becoming
again,”
GM
President
Mark
Reuss
said
during
a
media
event
at
the
company’s
design
and
technology
campus
in
suburban
Detroit. “[It’s
a]
really
talented
team,
really
talented
execution,
globally.”

Reuss,
who
started
his
career
with
Buick
as
a
transmission
calibrator,
said
the
design
team,
led
by
Bob
Boniface,
has
done
a
great
job
of “bringing
life
back
into
Buick
design.”

The
2025
Enclave
is
longer,
wider
and
taller
than
the
current
model.
It
also
features
a
more
aggressive
exterior
design,
including
a
larger
front
grill
and
Buick’s
new “reverse
check
mark”
headlights.

“[It’s]
the
flagship
of
the
Buick
brand,”
said
Boniface
during
a
media
event. “We
talked
a
lot
about
the
visual
DNA
and
here
you
see
it,
how
it
translates
into
our
largest
vehicle
in
the
range
…
it’s
masterful
use
of
the
surface
language.”

The
rear
appears
much
more
truck-like,
with
lots
of
angles
and
wide
tail
lamps
across
the
SUV.

Inside
is
a
new
redesigned
interior
that
features
a “floating”
center
console
that
doesn’t
attach
to
the
vehicle’s
front
instrumental
panel.
It
also
includes
a
standard
30-inch
diagonal,
curved
infotainment
screen.

Super
Cruise,
GM’s

hands-free
highway
driving
system,
will
be
offered
on
each
of
the
Enclave’s
three
trims:
Preferred,
ST
and
Avenir.
Also
standard
are
front
heated
seats,
wireless
charging
and
other
safety
and
convenience
features.

GM
is
ditching
a
current
V6
variant
of
the
Enclave
due
to
fuel
economy
in
exchange
for
a
standard
2.5-liter
turbocharged
engine
with
328
horsepower
and
326
foot-pounds
of
torque.

The
automaker
said
2025
Enclave
pricing
will
be
announced
closer
to
when
the
vehicle
enters

production
at
a
plant
in
mid-Michigan.
Current
starting
prices
range
from
roughly
$43,300
to
more
than
$60,000.

Buick’s
current
lineup
includes
the
Encore
GX,
Envista,
Envision
and
Enclave
crossovers/SUVs.
It
previously
said
its
new
EVs,
starting
in
2024,
would
all
use
the
name
Electra
—
a
name
the
brand
has
used
since
1959.

Company
executives
and
spokespeople
declined
to
reconfirm
the
timing
of
the
new
EV,
saying
it
could
launch
in
2025.
The

brand’s
website
still
says
the
vehicle’s
expected
availability
is
2024.

Duncan
Aldred,
global
vice
president
of
Buick,
called
the
brand’s
progress
a “pretty
miraculous
transformation.”
He
declined
to
comment
on
any
additional
nameplates
to
Buick’s
U.S.
lineup
in
the
years
to
come.

“As
you
see,
there’s
a
lot
of
energy,
enthusiasm,
passion;
people
keep
doing
things,
and
it
informs
the
future,”
said
Aldred,
who
also
heads

GM’s
GMC
brand. “You’re
going
to
have
to
watch
this
space
to
see
what
comes
next.”

GM
as
a
whole
is
evaluating
its
product
portfolios
amid
slower-than-expected
adoption
of
electric
vehicles
and
changes
to
federal
fuel
emissions
to
better
incorporate
hybrids
and

plug-in
hybrid
electric
vehicles
alongside
EVs.

In
2022,
Buick
announced
plans
to
exclusively
offer
all-electric
vehicles
by
2030.
(GM
as
a
whole
previously
announced
a
target
to

exclusively
offer
EVs
to
consumers
by
2035.)
Aldred,
echoing
prior
comments
from
GM
CEO
Mary
Barra,
said
the
brand’s
future
regarding
EVs
will
be
based
on
customer
demand.

Buick’s
U.S.
sales
increased
16.4%
during
the
first
quarter,
building
on
a
61.4%
increase
in
overall
sales
last
year
compared
to
modest
results
in
2022.

Despite
the
sales
growth
last
year
to
167,030
units,
the
results
remained
roughly
40,000
units

lower
than
in
2019,
prior
to
the
coronavirus
pandemic
causing
yearslong
supply
chain
and
production
problems.

Much
of
the
growth
for
Buick
came
from
incremental
sales
gains
from
its
new

entry-level
Envista
crossover,
which
was
the
brand’s
third
best-selling
vehicle
during
the
first
quarter
of
this
year
at
nearly
10,000
units.

Buick
has
also
been
growing
its
lineup
and
increasing
average
transaction
prices
for
its
top-end “Avenir”
models
across
its
lineup.
Avenir
models
represented
about
25%
of
Buick’s
sales
during
the
first
quarter
of
this
year.

Aldred
said
he
believes
Buick
can
continue
to
grow
U.S.
sales
with
its
new
vehicle
lineup,
especially
as
Envista
production
ramps
up
and
the
2025
Enclave
arrives
in
dealerships
this
summer.

“When
that
does
come
out,
we
believe
we’ll
have
the
freshest
portfolio
in
the
industry
at
that
point,”
Aldred
said. “Every
vehicle,
really
performing
very,
very
strongly.”

That’s
not
the
same
situation
in
China,
where
Buick
and
other
non-domestic

brands
have
been
struggling.
Sales
of
Buicks
in
China
have
fallen
roughly
40%
to
about
517,000
units
from
2019
to
2023.
That
has
coincided
with
a

32%
decline
in
sales
during
that
time
for
GM
in
China,
where
the
prominence
of
local
car
manufacturers
is
on
the
upswing.

“The
market
has
changed
rapidly
…
just
in
terms
of
the
number
of
brands
on
sale,”
Aldred
said. “It
proliferates
the
market,
it
just
does,
but
Buick
remains
healthy
and
successful
there.”