Car enthusiasts in North American might have lamented when General Motors pulled the plug on Oldsmobile, and then on Pontiac, especially since the Buick brand was being retained. But Buick was and is a big deal in the huge Chinese automotive marketplace, and that helped save it.
This week in Shanghai, General Motors China unveiled a new Buick concept car with a name familiar to brand fans back in North America.
“Today, Buick’s innovative thinking and imagination of future intelligent mobility have reached the next level with the Electra,” said Sam Basile, executive vice president of SAIC-GM. “I am confident that the aesthetics and technology innovations reflected on the Electra will ultimately help reset consumers’ expectations, just as all previous Buick concepts have done.”
“Adopting the new ‘potential energy’ design, the Electra emphasizes clean and bold styling with seamless integrated technology,” according to GM China. “It comes with a new-generation electric propulsion system and the advanced Ultium battery, along with a variety of connected and intelligent driving technologies, demonstrating Buick’s ongoing evolution toward the future of personal mobility.”
The company added that the car’s styling shows “forward-looking design inspired by a space capsule.”
“Buick sculpts another concept that looks way better than a Buick,” was the headline on the unveiling on the tech-oriented newatlas.com website, which asked:
“Do Buick designers actually look at Buick vehicles before getting shoulder deep in concept car design? Because from the looks of recent efforts like the Avista two-door, Riviera and Enspire, they most definitely do not. Which is just fine because Buick concept cars look decades better than the anonymous office park commuters that fill Buick’s dealer lots any given model year.”
Unlike the Electras of Buick’s past, this new concept is a crossover-style vehicle. The car was designed as a global project by GM’s Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center, an engineering and design facility in Shanghai.
“Combining the athletic look of a four-seat crossover with Gran Turismo aesthetics, the Electra previews Buick’s next-generation design language for electric vehicles,” GM China said.
GM China said with the Ultium battery, the Electra accelerate to 62 mph in 4.3 seconds and would have a range of more than 660 kilometers (more than 340 miles).
How long to fully charge the battery on 120 v virus 220c does it come with a charger for the house or business.
I’ll never be old enough to drive a Buick.
Before you make a statement like that, I would suggest you drive one.
If you feel they are an old man’s car, think about the GSX, GNX, the Stage One, Reatta, 63 Riviera, Wildcat and the turbo coupes of the 80’s. Also hot rodders always lusted over Buick Brakes because they were the best. “Try it you’ll like it”.
I was hoping for a big sedan like the Electra used to be. I’m not buying a Crossover built in China. Time to pull the plug on GM!
Buick should be Boycotted if built in China. We know those jobs belong in the U.S.