Report: Buick May Sell the Chinese-Market Encore GX In the U.S.

The Chinese version of the standard Encore will not come to the U.S., though

Buick will reportedly slot this model between the Encore and Envision.

Buick Encore GX
Buick introduced the new Encore GX for the Chinese market at the Shanghai Auto Show last week.

Last week in Shanghai, Buick debuted two new models in a bid to drive up its sales in China. Among them were the new Buick Encore and Encore GX, shown above. This gave us some insight as to what the new Encore will look like, but also opened the door for this in-between model making it to the U.S. Now, Automotive News reports the Encore GX will make its way to U.S. shores.

The Buick Encore GX is a long-wheelbase version of Buick’s best-selling crossover. As a brand that plays on white space, it slots in between the smaller Encore and Larger Envision. It is expected to be sold alongside the standard Encore at U.S. dealers starting later in 2019 or in early 2020. Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst at IHS Markit, sees the decision as a logical gap to fill. “The Encore is in that smaller B segment. Giving it a little bit more space will probably open up some additional sales.”

Buick’s sales have grown these past several years, given the U.S.-market’s love of crossovers. As the brand drops the slow-selling Cascada and LaCrosse from its lineup, it’s natural to introduce another crossover to shore up sales.

While Buick will reportedly sell the Encore GX in the U.S., it will not bring the redesigned Encore for the Chinese market over here. Instead, we will have to wait and see what GM intends to do with the current model, which is based on an Opel platform. A Buick spokesperson declined to comment on the brand’s future ambitions.

GM also showed what could be a new version of the Trax — called the Tracker in China — at the Shanghai Auto Show last week.