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.