In April 2023, General Motors officially launched the all-new Buick Electra E5 in China. While the all-electric crossover has yet to arrive on American shores, GM Authority has learned that a larger Buick electric crossover is currently in the works.
GM Authority has learned that an all-electric Tri-Shield crossover, which will slot above Electra E5, is currently in the planning stages. With that in mind, this model will feature three rows of seating and be similar in size to the upcoming 2026 Cadillac Vistiq, albeit with several differences.
Buick Electra E4
Of course, this potential all-electric crossover would be underpinned by the GM BEV3 platform, the same vehicle architecture found underneath many of the latest-generation General Motors EV products. However, this particular model would ride on the version of BEV3 with a short dash-to-axle ratio – similar to that of the Electra E5 – instead of the long dash-to-axle variant utilized by the Cadillac Lyriq, Cadillac Vistiq, and Chevy Blazer EV.
This would make for an intriguing development, as this potential electric crossover would be similar in size to the upcoming Visitiq, while featuring a shorter dash-to-axle ratio, making for a unique combination for the BEV3 architecture.
Buick Electra E5
As a reminder, The General filed to trademark the Electra E1 through Electra E9 nameplates back in November 2022. However, only Electra E4 to Electra E7 model names remain active as of the time of this writing. As such, the three-row Buick EV in question would likely be named Electra E6.
It’s also worth noting that the Buick Electra E5 will likely arrive for the U.S. market before this potential three-row crossover.
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Comments
I’m still confused with what Buick is doing, and with the shift towards electric and retailers turning in their Buick franchise agreements, I’m wondering if Buick is setting itself up for a flop… The brand continues to attempt to appeal to younger clients, and their new designs are nice, but it’s still not a brand people aspire to own or get excited to own. Its still largely older consumers and while it is coined as a “premium luxury brand,” the Envista and Encore GX feel too cheap inside, particularly with their infotainment screen with all the blacked out sections because they wouldn’t put a fully digital display as in the new Enclave and Envision refresh. I’m struggling here with their plans here and who the client base they are meant to appeal to really are.
Well, another crossover for old women sure isn’t going to appeal to younger buyers.
GM leadership is failing, the stock, like Buick is in limbo. The no sedans thing is madness. Dealers are replacing their Buick franchises with Kia.
Hmmmm my stock in GM went up 2.05% today…..
This just out today (4-23): GM 1st Quarter profit up 24%.
The only two Buick dealerships in the PA county I live in both turned in their franchises because both owners don’t believe there’s a future for the course GM has plotted for Buick. And these aren’t marginal dealerships with shaky financials either; both are well-established (one is wholly family owned) and count a couple dozen or more dealerships amongst their holdings. With about half of all Buick dealerships in the USA having opted out, many folks will have to travel far to even see a new Buick, let alone buy one. I don’t know who exactly is to blame for setting up Buick to fail, but certainly Ms Barra is letting it happen on her watch. She’s in over her head, and has been almost since the getgo.
Spoof: I agree. Back when I first got into sales with a dealership that had Buick in the portfolio, there were many dealers and many models to choose from. Of course, Buick didn’t have an SUV at that time, but they had 8 different models to choose from and most model had at least two body styles to choose from. All the way from the base Skyhawk in 2 dr coupe, hatch, sedan or wagon all the way up to the Riviera which was only a 2 dr luxury coupe. My point is that buyers had a choice other than just 4 SUV’s. Buyers also could drive into the local town and visit the dealer while admiring the new Buicks.
I’ve said this many times. Cutting the number of dealerships is NOT going to help sales. It may help the dealers left to make more money per car (being in the car business, I don’t agree that will happen), but it won’t help grow the brand and sales. All this is why, as a person and family who’s owned many Buicks, I feel that Buick is doomed and they might as well pull the plug on them. I know others will point out that Buick sales last year were up. True, but from where? When you have so little product and sales are in the basement, there’s nowhere to go but up and 2023 sales pale when compared to Buick sales back in the 80’s and 90’s.
We have far more brand offerings than 1980/90s so sales numbers have dipped across the board. Remember, in the 2000s Buick only had 3 models for sale. Today, no doubt, with imported Envision in second place and Envlave in third, GM is making a healthy profit. Encore and Envista, due to scale and VFF platform, are little cash cows, too.
Buick sedans were not selling and this gas been an industry wide problem aside from Honda and Toyota.
Buick, provided there is no trade war, will rely on Chinese production lines, and, due to scale, be well positioned for EV sales. I worry far more about Cadillac surviving another decade. Could easily see Chevrolet and GMC-Buick as the final surviving bits of GM
OEMs want reductions in dealerships. The Cadillac network was intentionally shrunk. The feeling is too many dealers leads to sales cannibalism and the need for discounts.
Most Buick-GMC dealers are staying open which is probably GM’s goal. GM can’t really complain with Envision the second most popular “luxury” in it’s segment plus Enclave doing consistently well. En CV fire and Envista are cheap to produce sharing lines and bits w/Trax and Trailblazer.
Buick China us loosing sales. Buick USA will continue unless China is sold. E4 is nice, E5 is generic but, then again, do is Chevy Volt
Buick sales to “younger” buyers are up over 30%. Women and younger buyers prefer crossovers to sedans.
Ray and John: I agree with everything you both said. In another article on GMA, the Buick is being touted as having one of the lowest cost of ownership in the industry. That really isn’t new to Buick and they have been a higher quality and more reliable brand than even the other GM brands in the past. So I give Buick a pat on the back for that. But that’s where it ends for me, someone who has owned many new and used Buick’s over the years and sold many of them.
Like Ray said, I’m just confused as to what Buick is any more. Why push them to be an SUV (truck-ish) brand when you have most remaining Buick stores coupled with GMC? GM buyers can go to Chevy and pick any sized SUV they want. GMC only has SUV’s and trucks. Even Cadillac is really just an SUV only brand any more since they care less about the CT4/5. So where does Buick fit in? What is Buick’s purpose? Why do we read article after article about the Buicks in China that we may never see? Why do we not get some of the great cars that the Chinese can buy? I could go on, but the point is clear and Ray and John hit the nail on the head. I have no problem if Buick keeps 4 SUV’s in the lineup. But give us a proper luxury coupe and two proper sedans with the Buick name proudly attached. And for the love of gawd, leave that awful front end off of them.
Buick seems lost lately and that new front end is icing on the cake.
Build a nice sedan. Large 4 door with an approachable price.
Oh boy, crossover clone model #2,359. How exciting.
Go back to the GOOD OLD DESIGN BOARDS ! Build a solid 2 door Luxury Comfort ride like Buick, Olds and Cadillac used to build ! Please.
Buick is not a name that appeals to younger people.
Change the name to La Salle with a new logo..
That could happen if Buick were to merge with Cadillac and be called LaSalle. Might work out better linked with Cadillac. Cadillac could focus on higher end. Ford should have done similar with Lincoln. Name change Mercury to Zephyr so Lincoln could focus on high end vehicles. But Lincoln is now doomed unfortunately.
Yes, bring up a name that only the people above 80 will have a vague idea of hearing it somewhere before as it hasn’t been around since 1940…..brilliant idea. Buick sales with “younger” people are actually increasing, old people buy Toyotas now.
I disagree I think Buick has been carving out a good niche for itself. Since departing from Opels it’s been positioning itself as a premium family brand for folks leaving the mainstream brands but not capable to pay full on lux prices. Yea it’s sucks that it’s all crossovers but hey that’s what’s selling.
Also I think it’s a good move delaying the EV push in the US while still feeding a healthy Ice appetite. Once we get the second gen ultium ready I’d bet we start seeing debuts for Buick in the US.
Toney cross: Quote from you: “it’s all crossovers but hey that’s what’s selling”
What’s your response to the fact that about 4 million cars (sedan, coupe, hatch) sold in the USA in 2023? When you include Tesla Model 3 and Model S, that’s how many cars sold here last year. Response? I don’t call that nothing.
Uh…that sedans sell too? Crossover SUVs are the fastest growing vehicle type right now.
With a 37.3 per cent growth rate, the large SUV segment is by far the fastest-growing segment for consumers. It’s followed by a pair of luxury segment vehicles with sports cars (29 per cent) and cars (27 per cent) coming in second and third.
No doubt about it GM is killing off Buick. The new Enclave is just plain ugly, the Envista and Encore GX aren’t worth the Buick name. The refreshed 2024 Envision is the only decent model left. The idea of 2 upcoming EV Crossovers is unexciting to say the least. Look at the new 2025 Toyota Camry, all hybrids (non plug in) that offer over 40mpg and the most expensive model sells for the mid $40’s. Very attractive car that will fly off the lot’s. Why can’t GM give Buick such a vehicle? I know why, GM is only focused on developing and selling just EV SUV’s/Crossovers, while the Japanese and Koreans gobble up the sedan markets with affordable and attractive gas and hybrid powered sedans. Proves to me GM is run by a bunch of idiots, totally ignorant of customers wants
Dan C: I can agree with about half what you said. You may not like EV’s and that is fine. But EV’s are not going away and they are actually gaining sales. Maybe not Ford and GM since they only want to sell huge gas hogs. But EV sales are going up and those who ignore the EV side will be left behind. Toyota very much included.
With GM sales & profits up in the 1st quarter, it seems like the idiots plan is working. They aren’t killing off Buick. Wow. The real world facts don’t weigh out the opinions being offered here.
So many armchair CEO’s, so little time…..
Automobile manufacturing company execs thoughts : Crossovers, crossovers, crossovers, crossovers, crossovers, crossovers, crossovers is the best product to shove down their throats …
Squeezed and taxed to the max consumers thoughts : affordable compact and subcompact hatchbacks, compact and subcompact sedans would be great for us.
Automobile manufacturing companies execs answers : we don’t care what you think !
I don’t think that’s accurate. If we didn’t like them, then why are we buying so many? Americans don’t like compact hatchbacks (or any hatchbacks for that matter).
Wow the oil company goons are strong here today. Buick is going great there new models are way up in sales. EV is the way to go. Hybrids are too complex, require too many repairs oil change, belt changes, spark plugs, transmissions and the battery packs fail too often to make them worth anything. We are replacing hybrid batters so much these days in the shop I cannot recommend a hybrid. EV or ICE is the only way.
So hybrid battery packs fail “too often” but pure EV battery packs won’t?…. All cars require will maintenance, just because you don’t have to change the oil, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t still have electrical motors, motor bearings, wheel bearings, ball joints, shocks, brakes, control arms, cooling systems, CV axles, tires etc etc… I’d much rather have to deal with changing an accessory belt and spark plugs every 100k miles than attempting to troubleshoot a high voltage electrical system or motor control module system…
Buick will sell around 5,000 of these annually, and in 3 years the vehicle will be canceled due to poor sales. It is so predictable. In the meantime, Toyota RAV4s , and Honda pilots will be flying off the lot.