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Buick boss shuts down idea of importing Opel Adam

Anyone hoping for Buick to sell small city cars in America, you're not going to like this story. Buick boss Duncan Aldred has effectively ruled out importing the stylish Opel Adam city car for US drivers. Yep, this is us being bummed. Admittedly, the business case for Adam is not as strong as it used to be. Gas is cheap and consumers have fallen back in love with the idea of high-riding crossovers instead of efficient cars. That's why Buick sold twice as many teeny, tiny Encore CUVs in 2015 as it did its smallest car, the Verano. With that in mind, slotting in another car, let alone one below the Verano, isn't a great idea. Of course, Aldred didn't come out and say as much, even though he campaigned for a US-market Adam in the past. "I very much did feel when I came over that that could really help accelerate the Buick brand story," the executive told Automotive News at last week's New York Auto Show. "I don't see that as much. Whether the market shifted or the fashion nature of those cars has changed, I don't know. But I wouldn't be looking for a small, B-segment car today." That, friends, is a real bummer. Adding a car like the Adam, even in a small, captive-import capacity would add a real dose of fun to Buick showrooms and (we're guessing) would bring in younger foot traffic. Related Video:

Buick Encore production increased to lift supply by 50%

Trying to zero in on the Buick Encore leads us to the conclusion that the only place it really fits is in buyers' driveways. Every member of its so-called competitive set – we've read everything from the Ford C-Max to the Nissan Juke to the Volkswagen Tiguan to the BMW X1 – is so different in small yet fundamental ways that the Encore neatly slinks between them all, and with 48,892 sales in 2014, it doesn't stop slinking until it reaches consumer garages. That success, and preparation for the aggrandizing of the compact CUV segment, is why General Motors is upping production for the US market by 50 percent. Analysts keep predicting there will be more shoppers for tiny crossovers, and that's why those that don't have them are getting them. Yet the Encore came out in 2013 before people realized the power of the segment, and it has substantially out-performed GM and observer expectations: analysts predicted 18,500 US sales in 2013 and 25,000 in 2015; in 2013 we wrote, "We admit it. We have no earthly idea how this whole thing is going to shake out." It shook out 31,046 sales in 2013, puffing that number up by more than 50 percent last year. GM thinks that this year it will it will go from Buick's third-best-selling vehicle to its best-selling vehicle. GM wants that to continue, what with the Honda HR-V, Jeep Renegade, and Mazda CX-3 on the way. Dealers say they'd sell more if they could get them, and the four-month lead time at the moment between a dealer ordering and taking delivery – about double the normal time – creates a handicap. Plants in Mexico, Korea, and Spain will hive off production to bolster US inventory to keep the "downsizing empty nesters" who love it, happy. Seeing as the coming competition is falls meaningfully outside the Buick's combination of traits, there's a chance its popular tale can continue.

Buick Envision crossover to premiere in China

Buick currently offers two crossovers: the compact Encore and the extra-large Enclave, leaving plenty of room to slot a mid-size crossover in between. And that's just what Buick is planning on doing. In China, anyway.
Previewed in the teaser above, Buick's upcoming new crossover is cloaked and nestled in between its aforementioned stablemates-to-be. Set to be unveiled in China sometime later this year, the model has been confirmed to wear the name Envision - at least in that market. That's the name which the concept version wore three years ago, but we're still waiting on word over whether that name will carry over to the US version or whether we should expect something different like Anthem. But we have to admit that Envision fits better in the brand's crossover naming scheme.
Shanghai GM isn't saying much about the Envision in the press release below, aside from it having "dynamic and assertive styling" backed by all-wheel drive and stop/start ignition. The last time Buick offered a mid-size crossover in North America was with the Pontiac Aztek-based Rendezvous that was discontinued seven years ago.