Photo: Buick
General Motors intends to flood the Chinese market with electric models, with plans for more than 15 Ultium-based EVs by 2025. According to GM president Mark Reuss, one of them will be based on the Buick GL8 Flagship Concept introduced at Auto Guangzhou 2021.
Buick is GM’s spearhead on the Chinese market, and it makes sense that the Detroit carmaker wants to sharpen its tip by offering what the local market demands: electric vehicles. For that, Buick has rummaged through its chests and found the name Electra fit for purpose. Then it went on a trademarking spree to ensure the planned Electra range doesn’t get out of E numbers, with the Buick Electra E5 pictures already leaked to the public in China. And then GM’s president Mark Reuss announces that the next Buick EV flagship will probably not be called Electra. Makes sense?
Instead, Buick will electrify the highly-successful GL8 full-size MPV, essentially putting the last year’s Buick GL8 Flagship Concept into series production. That’s because the GL8 is extremely popular in China, and trading this for a rather bland “Electra whatever” might not work in the Asian market. The new electric version of the Buick GL8 will also replace GL8 Century as the flagship model in the lineup, all in the name of electrification.
“The GL8 in China for Buick has really been a hit for many, many years, so now we electrify that,” said GM president Mark Reuss during the recent GM Investor Day, according to GM Authority. “And of course, this is used for carrying people, but also executives, so we’ve got a great vision of what we’re doing there, and I think it’s going to be very successful in China.”
The fourth-generation Buick GL8 launched earlier this year as the GL8 Century, borrowing many design details from the Buick GL8 Flagship Concept. As the concept was supposedly based on GM’s Ultium electric platform, many people wondered whether an electric version of the GL8 would also be made. We think Mark Reuss politely answered this question, although it is unclear whether the upcoming electric version of the GL8 will be named Electra or simply the GL8 EV.
Whatever the case, the all-electric Buick GL8 will only be available in China, as GM doesn’t plan to bring it to the U.S. If things go well, we expect the new model to arrive in 2024 with all the goodies afforded by the Ultium technology, as seen on other GM electric vehicles.
Instead, Buick will electrify the highly-successful GL8 full-size MPV, essentially putting the last year’s Buick GL8 Flagship Concept into series production. That’s because the GL8 is extremely popular in China, and trading this for a rather bland “Electra whatever” might not work in the Asian market. The new electric version of the Buick GL8 will also replace GL8 Century as the flagship model in the lineup, all in the name of electrification.
“The GL8 in China for Buick has really been a hit for many, many years, so now we electrify that,” said GM president Mark Reuss during the recent GM Investor Day, according to GM Authority. “And of course, this is used for carrying people, but also executives, so we’ve got a great vision of what we’re doing there, and I think it’s going to be very successful in China.”
The fourth-generation Buick GL8 launched earlier this year as the GL8 Century, borrowing many design details from the Buick GL8 Flagship Concept. As the concept was supposedly based on GM’s Ultium electric platform, many people wondered whether an electric version of the GL8 would also be made. We think Mark Reuss politely answered this question, although it is unclear whether the upcoming electric version of the GL8 will be named Electra or simply the GL8 EV.
Whatever the case, the all-electric Buick GL8 will only be available in China, as GM doesn’t plan to bring it to the U.S. If things go well, we expect the new model to arrive in 2024 with all the goodies afforded by the Ultium technology, as seen on other GM electric vehicles.
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