The Buick Envision – a premium compact crossover – sells reasonably well in both the North American and Chinese markets. In fact, the Buick brand is so popular in China, that GM also offers the Buick Envision Plus – a three-row variant of the second-generation Envision – in that market. Now, GM Authority has exclusively learned that the Envision Plus was originally planned to also be marketed as an Opel and Vauxhall.
Sources familiar with the matter tell GMA that, had GM not sold off Opel-Vauxhall several years ago, the Envision Plus would have also been offered in that market as the Opel Grand Antara. The model would’ve served as the flagship of the Opel and Vauxhall utility vehicle lines.
Meanwhile, the regular (two-row) second-gen Buick Envision would’ve been sold as the Opel Antara / Vauxhall Antara.
Buick Envision two-row
Under GM, Opel struggled to offer a three-row crossover in the European market. Granted, Opel-Vauxhall did offer the Zafira, which featured three rows of seating. But the Zafira was not a crossover, but rather an MPV, more colloquially known as a van. GM’s difficulty revolved around the uniqueness of European tastes, which (to this day) call for smaller vehicles with more seating capacity. This is particularly true when it comes to C-segment crossovers, which many expect to feature more seating capacity than their smaller, B-segment counterparts.
Due to this conundrum, GM was in desperate need to field an Opel-Vauxhall vehicle with compact-ish proportions while also offering third-row seating, something both Opel and Buick lacked at the time. However, GM ended up selling Opel-Vauxhall to Peugeot-Citroen owners, PSA Groupe, before these plans could be brought to fruition.
In the case of the North American market, it was originally believed that GM would bring the Buick Envision Plus to American shores. However, GM Authority was first to report that this would not be the case, and that GM had decided to bring the Buick Envista instead. This leaves the Buick Envision Plus as a China-exclusive product, as Buick only competes in the North American and Chinese markets.
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Comments
I personally like the Buick Envision Plus and wish that it would have come to the U.S. It may very well have wound up in my garage.
Meanwhile, something isn’t right with the news we are hearing about the Electra E4 and E5. Supposedly, only the E5 is coming to the US. But it had been teased at the 2021 CES show, and hinted later, that Buick would get two Ultium-based vehicles, one a more traditional SUV and the other more sporty and athletic-looking. Are you sure that the E4 isn’t coming to the US? Or did GM mean the E5 and the Envista – because Envista is not electric.
Sharp looking vehicle!
A 3-row variant of the Envision……. So an Enclave?
No hate, it looks nice, I’m just confused at how it would be different form an Enclave.
It would have a short wheelbase like the China Enclave versus the long wheelbase US Enclave.
The European and Asian market have a demand for a vehicle that has 3 rows but is the minimum size possible, to fit in their city parking. The trunk is reduced to the absolute minimum. If you need more than 3 bags of groceries, you have to fold the seat down. The front is often stubby like a van.
Along with the Envision Plus, see the Ford Galaxy/S-Max, Renault Espace, Opel/Vauxhall Zafira.
The Envision Plus had the styling of the Envision which is very different from the Enclave.
Would this have been a Buick version of the Acadia?
Take a look on a facelift insignia B. It looks very similar, especially headlights. I guess that how new Opel GM face would look like nowadays.
If GM had not finally sold the Opel and Vauxhall brands to PSA in 2017, Opel and Vauxhall would still be OEMs without a profit.
But then there would also be Holden, who always liked to take over the models from Vauxhall or sold HSV models as Vauxhall VRX in the UK. Holden was closed on 10/20/2017. Unfortunately!
Furthermore, the small Opel SAVs are selling very well and with the Opel Grandland, many new customers are coming to Opel as it is also available as a PHEV. Opel usually has more private customers and these customers do not want huge SUVs. And as you know, GM has had little skill in meeting the needs of European customers in the past. As you probably know, especially in Germany, the large SUVs are generally only leased as company cars and the tax office pays for this in full. Unfortunately!
In addition, the Opel Zafira is now a PSA model thanks to the PSA model range for utility vehicles, but it is also available as a FIAT and Toyota because an in-house development is unprofitable.
GM has never had comparable small commercial vehicles that could also be used as passenger vans.
New Opel customers because smaller cars!
It has been noticed for some time that many former Mercedes, Audi, VW and BMW customers are now switching to OPEL.
The Opel Grandland PHEV in particular is particularly popular and is considered a socially appealing SAV without the SUV crowd.