The Buick Avenir was a very well kept secret for the 2015 North American International Auto Show. It took everyone by surprise, and was received with a warm welcome, despite the cold temperatures during the time it sat on a pedestal inside COBO Hall.
Having your work received well is something the designers of the Buick Avenir were absolutely thrilled about, but winning an Eyes On Design award had them humbled. Warrack Leach, Exterior Lead Designer, and Michael Simcoe, Executive Director of Exterior Design, have a few words about their work and what inspired the Avenir’s exterior design.
“Buick is a brand that deserves a flagship, and to deliver a flagship for Buick, the Avenir show’s a little bit of heritage from the past pulled forward” commented Simcoe. This is apparent from the boat-tail rear end of the Avenir, a cue that plays tricks on your eye depending on what angle you view the car from.
“We knew we wanted to do a boat-tail Buick, honoring the third generation Riviera,” said Warrack who oversaw much of the design process that took place inside GM Australia’s Holden. The boat-tail works wonders in integrating a sleek coupe profile, but allows enough space to fit comfortably inside without feeling cramped.
Simcoe continued to be outspoken about the Buick brand, and understands how badly Buick deserves good design. “Buick is a brand that deserves this level of sculpture, it’s a subtle presence, but without any pretense in the design.” We couldn’t agree more. The Avenir succeeds in creating a statement without being too bold or flashy.
Although there currently aren’t plans to put the Avenir into production, we think it would be such a waste to throw this whole design embodied into a gorgeous four-door away. What’s that old saying? Build it, and they will come.
Comments
Buick could be the American Audi with the right, non pretentious design. Stoic luxury sums it up
Words escape me. GM produces a Buick flagship concept that receives critical acclaim from peers, the press, and the public and then says it’s NOT going to produce it!!!! If GM wants Buick to sell mass produced, safe, but plain vanilla looking cars, then why did they produce the Avenir? You kind of get the impression that GM is gun-shy lacking confidence to be truly world class. Buick, it’s best selling brand, and it gets relegated to a status of “we could have been really something.” I’ll always buy GM just for OnStar, but I want to own a Buick that is a real eye opener, one that everyone drools over, and one that people say, “I want THAT car.”
Some times you just have to let things run their coarse. There is more going on here then you know bases on what has happened with other models.
It could be a simple case of not announcing this car till the CT6 is out first on the Omega. It could be as simple as putting this car out to get public reaction to help sell the business case. There are many reason GM said what they said and that it could yet change.
How many cars do we need to list that they said would not be build or come to this market that we do have now?
Just give this a little more time and I expect this one may change status like the many others. If not much of what you see here may end up in a new car at some point. The name would have never gone to market like it is.
FWD has aged for the flagship position….leave FWD to the entry level Buicks and have the flagship be RWD and the FWD Lacrosse reeks of entry-level…I could see a RWD Omega flagship arriving in 2018.