Buick unveils a new concept as it prepares total overhaul of the brand
General Motors' Buick brand will go all-electric by 2030, following the same timeline for Cadillac.
Buick is also getting a new emblem as it overhauls the brand with fresh designs for its existing gasoline-powered vehicles and for its new products.
Buick, GM's mid-luxury brand, announced that news Wednesday when it unveiled the Wildcat EV concept vehicle. The concept will influence the design of all upcoming Buick vehicles over the next several years, whether they be internal combustion engine or electric.
The first EV to hit Buick's lineup will come in 2024 and it will be an SUV. It and all future Buick EVs will be called Electra, followed by a number, Rob Peterson, Buick marketing manager, told the Detroit Free Press. Buick has not used the name Electra since 1963.
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"Electra has the cache to define what we're doing," Peterson said. "By 2030, Electra should have outstanding name recognition with Buick."
While the Wildcat concept vehicle is a coupe, Peterson said Buick is likely to remain an SUV-only brand even as it shifts to all EVs.
"There are no plans or commitment to bring back coupes right now, but never say never," Peterson said.
Prices 'similar to today'
Buick is skimpy with the details of the electric SUV it will bring out in two years.
Peterson declined to say where it might be assembled, but said it will share some GM parts with GM's other EVs. For example, it will sit on GM's Ultium platform, GM's proprietary propulsion system that will underpin all of the automaker's new EVs.
In terms of pricing, Peterson said Buick will continue to be the premium brand within GM but wouldn't offer anything more specific than saying the upcoming EV price will be "similar to where it is today."
The prices in Buick's current lineup start at $24,600 for the Encore subcompact SUV and go to a starting price of $55,100 for the Envision Avenir luxury mid-size SUV.
Buick currently has a lineup of four internal combustion SUVs, but Peterson said there will be a significant transformation of the portfolio in the next 18 months with freshened internal combustion vehicle designs and the new EV to be introduced.
There will be some overlap with internal combustion SUVs being sold along with new EVs as the brand shifts, he said, but "we see a lot of growth for our brand. So is four the only number of nameplates we'll offer? 2030 is a long way out...but I think we have a lot of bandwidth."
Peterson said he views Buick's main competitors to be Infiniti and Acura, which won't change even as Buick goes to an all-electric lineup because those brands will offer more EVs too. The part that will change, he said, is viewing Tesla as a competitor as Buick enters the electric vehicle market.
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Updated Buick logo
Buick's badge will also get a facelift for the first time since 1990.
The well-known tri-shield pillars of red, silver and blue – most recently the pillars have no colors – will move off the front grille and onto the car's surface. The ring motif around it goes away.
The changes to the logo will start appearing on vehicles next year, Peterson said.
The colored columns of the tri-shield have roots in Buick founder David Dunbar's ancestral history. The original emblem was a single red shield with a stag head, meant to reflect Dunbar's Scottish family crest, GM said.
In 1960, GM introduced Buick's tri-shield insignia with distinctive, diagonally arranged red, silver and blue shields. It was used in the front grilles of the LeSabre, Electra and Invicta models. The three-model lineup inspired the three shields.
In the 1970s the tri-shield was used primarily on hood ornaments on some models while a hawk symbol was used as the official logo.
The tri-shield logo returned to prominence in the 1990s, and has continued for the last two decades as a signature styling cue.
Concept car aims to be futuristic
The Wildcat concept is meant to take the luxury look to a futuristic level, Peterson said.
The fact that GM chose to call the concept Wildcat reflects seven decades of using that moniker on innovative and progressive Buick concept vehicles.
The first Wildcat was introduced in 1953 as a show vehicle that previewed the next-generation Buick design. More Wildcat concepts followed in 1954 and 1955, with the designs led by GM's legendary chief designer, Harley Earl. The last Wildcat concept to debut was in 1985. It was a futuristically styled, mid-engine sporty car made to display new engine technologies.
This latest Wildcat is a long, low, lean car set in Legato Green paint with white and green interior. It is "one of the more important EVs" GM has unveiled recently because it is the new face of Buick, Peterson said.
Upcoming Buicks, gas- or electric-powered, will carry design elements from this concept and look more futuristic and aggressive. The Wildcat concept features jet-age-inspired 18-spoke “turbine” wheels, where each spoke was made by hand. Part of its roof tilts up as the driver-side door opens allowing easier access into the car.
Buick's Design Manager Therese Pinazzo said the most noticeable change will be in the "face" of Buick. The front of the upcoming vehicles will have long front lamps and a "lower face and sculpted forms."
Women are the 'strength of Buick'
Peterson said Buick will continue to target female buyers in its marketing of EVs, calling them the "strength of Buick."
For each vehicle in the lineup, women compose 50% of the owners, Peterson said. The average age of a Buick customer is 57 to 58, he said.
“Some of our messaging, even today’s messaging, hits in audiences where that female population already exists," Peterson said. "A great example is the NCAA partnership that Buick has as well as our relationship with Amazon. Both of them have a highly educated female audience.”
That is the same audience that will want future EVs, Peterson said.
Contact Jamie L. LaReau at 313-222-2149 or jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan.