General Motors is backtracking on its plan to exclusively offer three-cylinder engines in many of its vehicles in China after the decision led to a dip in sales.
GM downsized some of its four-cylinder engines in China for 2019, replacing them with smaller, more fuel-efficient three-cylinders. Many other automakers have also begun to offer three-cylinder engines in China to meet the country’s strict fuel economy and emissions standards, but they continued to offer four-cylinder engines in these models for those customers who may want the bigger engine. GM and its Chinese joint venture partner SAIC, meanwhile, dropped the four-cylinder entirely in many of its most popular products, including the Buick Excelle GT and Chevrolet Cruze.
Buick Excelle GT
Now Chinese GM dealers are pushing the automaker to bring back the four-cylinder engines amid declining sales and increased competition from the likes of Volkswagen and Toyota. A senior manager for a Buick dealer in Shanghai told Reuters the pivot to three-cylinder engines was “too quick, too radical and lacked sophisticated planning.” The sales manager also said his dealership was among “hundreds” of Chinese GM dealers that voiced concern over the plan at recent conferences in an attempt to convince GM to bring back the larger engines.
Buick Verano
GM’s China sales fell 15% to 3.09 million vehicles in 2019 – its lowest sales in the world’s largest automotive market since 2012. While the switch to three-cylinder engines in certain models contributed to the decline, China’s automotive market also took a hit in 2019 and is expected t contract even further in 2020. GM China president Matt Tsien said the company will focus on introducing new products and keeping its costs in check to mitigate the effects of the struggling Chinese auto industry.
“We expect the market downturn to continue in 2020, and anticipate ongoing headwinds in our China business,” Tsien said in January.
GM 1.3L L3T engine
GM is currently seeking regulatory approval for four-cylinder versions of both the Buick Excelle GT and the Chevrolet Cruze in China. According to Reuters, the automaker is looking at adding a four-cylinder to the Chinese-market Buick Verano, as well, along with the new Buick Encore GX crossover.
China isn’t the only market where GM is starting to lean more on three-cylinders to meet fuel economy and emissions standards. The Encore GX will be offered exclusively with three-cylinder engines in North America, with GM’s new 1.2L LIH three-pot serving as the base engine and the slightly larger 1.3L L3T available as an option. The two engines, GM’s first three-cylinders sold in North America since the 2001 Geo Metro, appear in the new 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer, as well.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more GM China news and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Source: Reuters
Comments
buick exec sphincters clenched after reading that.
chinese consumers don’t want it but the american consumer will? they better hide that 3 cylinder engine in the fine print.
anyone who would pay high $20s/low $30s for 3 cylinders and a cvt needs to have their head examined.
They should’ve kept the 1.4 LE2 from the 2Gen Cruze instead of going to 3 cylinders.
The 1.5T found in just about every other Chevy would have been a no-brainer purchase for me. At highway speeds those tiny little engines don’t hold up.
They should have kept the 1.4 153 HP engine from the Cruze for the AWD versions and maybe tried out the 3 cylinder on the lower trimmed FWD versions to test the waters. Going all in with 3 cylinder engines might not sit well with consumers in NA like in China.
I don’t care if it’s 3 cylinder, but the 1.3L on lt puts out 155hp. Ford’s 1.5L 3 cyl gives you 180hp. Trailblazer and Encore GX look nice but will be dogs on the on-ramp.
Two comments: First, why hasn’t GM brought (or better yet, built) those two Buick cars here? I’m talking about the white Excelle GT above and the red Verano. Both very attractive cars that I’m sure would sell here.
Second, I really think we all need to give these 3 cyl engines a chance and see how they are before we all (yes, including me) throw them and GM to the lions. However, and with a huge emphasis on this, I can say that I’m terribly let down by the MPG numbers recently published here. IF I’m going to go with a 3 cyl and IF I had to take the CVT, I had better get a lot better MPG’s than what they listed. I’ve been saying it and will keep saying it. I’m not as concerned about the 3 cyl engines as I am about the CVT’s. But unless I’m getting very close to 40 mpg or higher, why go with the 3 cyl/CVT combo?
For now, I’ll keep my fantastic 2018 Encore preferred or maybe go into a brand new 2020 just like the one I have now and just keep that for a long time.
I read one consumer review on another website who test drove a 2020 Encore GX and he said the base engine was impressive and was also quiet with the CVT. He ended up ordering the upgrade 1.3L with 9 speed though.
The new Trailblazer and Encore GX imported from Korea may also have to offer a 4 cyl option for the U.S. markets.
Paying over $20,000 for a three cylinder may be hard to justify.
When you get less, it should cost less, even if it is better in many ways.
North Americans loved V8 power with wheel spinning power, then GM experimented with automatic cylinder shut down to no avail, then they promoted V6 power as the be all, then turbo 4 ‘s some better than others ,now even the Chinese six months into production are saying enough is enough even in these small luxury models they don’t want three cylinder engines they want the Cruze turbo four ,not a good omen for the North American market with a ton of four cylinder alternative models in the CUV market segment !
They arent getting less,, they added so many features to the new encore gx people couldnt care less about 1 less cylinder.. if people check out the gx, they are going to love it..
I have a feeling the same thing is going to happen here in the US when these finally show up, even though the reviews say they do just fine.
They are the dealers now. They have two engine options that should work. I think American’s are more adaptable?
I dont think so, i think its a good move. They added so much more to the encore its a much better value than the old car.. i dont understand why the Chinese find issue with it.. yeah the motor makes a little more noise but people are saying they love the sporty sound.
They had to cut cost somewhere.. the new encore gx has so many standard items now it more than makes up for the motor.. Much more electronics now than the old model,, the 3 cylinder puts out comparable/ better numbers than the old 4 cylinders. My only concern will be avoiding any serious reliability issues that may develop.. Of course all the new electronics have the same concern but all of these systems already exist on other models… the 9 speed sounds interesting, but does a small car really need that many gears? I checked the top gear ratio is about the same as the older 6 spd.. im interestwd to see how good the cvt’s can get.. dont those large rubber v belts wear out quickly? And woulsnt they be easily replaced anyway? The encore gx is such a great little package they will sale well.. very good value for the price.. with so many dealers now offering their own 10 year warranties, the new engine reliability becomes less of a worry
That was the old days… with money being tight, and everyone a general cheap scape, High mpg numbers are the new bragging points.. whats crazy now is theae hybrids are only $1500 more than standard models… how the makers are doing this and makikg a profit is amazing
I bought a 2021 Buick EncoreGX Essence AWD 1.3 ,9 speed auto, we really like it’s growl and power easy to handle and seems well made ,time will tell on reliability ,but it’s a fun vehicle to drive ,no complaints yet !
No problem! VW and Toyota have four cylinder options. NO 3 cyl engine and definitely no CVTs.