{"id":23800,"date":"2019-05-30T09:55:34","date_gmt":"2019-05-30T13:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=23800"},"modified":"2019-05-30T09:55:34","modified_gmt":"2019-05-30T13:55:34","slug":"thats-a-buick-encore-gx-adds-another-suv-to-its-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/thats-a-buick-encore-gx-adds-another-suv-to-its-lineup","title":{"rendered":"That&#8217;s a Buick? Encore GX adds another SUV to its lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/05\/29\/PDTN\/c5cb37f6-ca7c-43f4-bee5-c6200027b2d4-buick_fr.JPG?width=540&amp;height=&amp;fit=bounds&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"The 2020 Buick Encore GX shares the Encore's cute stance, but gains a more premium wardrobe with bigger grille, scalloped sides and remade c-pillar.\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div><p><em>The 2020 Buick Encore GX shares the Encore&#8217;s cute stance, but gains a more premium wardrobe with bigger grille, scalloped sides and remade c-pillar.\u00a0<span class=\"credit\">(Photo: Buick)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable-p-1 p-text\">Continuing its transformation as an SUV brand, Buick on Wednesday announced its fourth crossover, the Encore GX.<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable-p-2 p-text\">The GX will slot between the subcompact\u00a0Encore and the compact Envision in the premium brand\u2019s lineup. The three-row, Lansing-made Enclave is the biggest, priciest Buick offering.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Larger and more luxurious than the\u00a0Encore, the GX shares its sibling\u2019s name and cute proportions, but will be built on GM&#8217;s\u00a0new\u00a0small-SUV VSS platform. The smaller Encore is built on GM\u2019s older Gamma architecture. Both\u00a0vehicles will be imported from South Korea. The Envision is built in China.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">In addition to the platform change, the GX gets significant exterior and interior upgrades. The GX\u2019s face receives a bigger grille and more elaborate gills. Rear taillights are also more elaborate, echoing the LaCrosse sedan&#8217;s horizontal flourish. The luxury upgrades continue across the body as\u00a0GX ditches Encore\u2019s black\u00a0fender-cladding and adds deeper door scallops and a remade c-pillar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Inside, GX shares the Encore\u2019s horizontal console design, but gains 5 cubic feet of cargo space, leaving it just 3 cubic\u00a0feet shy of the larger Envision. It will also add premium treats like GM\u2019s rear-camera mirror that first debuted on Cadillac\u2019s swank CT6 sedan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">&#8220;The GX fills a hole in Buick&#8217;s lineup, especially as its sedans go away,&#8221; says IHS Markit senior analyst Stephanie Brinley. She said it&#8217;s nicely featured and should do well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Pricing has not been announced, but expect the GX to start at around $27,000 \u2014\u00a0between the $24,195 Encore and $33,190 Envision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Since it was introduced in 2013, the Encore \u2014 along with flagship Enclave\u00a0\u2014 has led a Buick brand resurgence.<\/p>\n<div id=\"module-position-R0yXSdBgNKQ\" class=\"story-asset image-asset\">\n<aside class=\"wide single-photo\"><div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/05\/29\/PDTN\/ce8d6ad6-a621-464a-ae3e-a5642e484527-buick_rr.JPG?width=540&amp;height=&amp;fit=bounds&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"The rear of the 2020 Buick Encore GX eschews the Encore's vertical taillights for more premium, horizontal lights like the Buick LaCrosse.\" width=\"540\" data-mycapture-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/05\/29\/PDTN\/ce8d6ad6-a621-464a-ae3e-a5642e484527-buick_rr.JPG\" data-mycapture-sm-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/05\/29\/PDTN\/ce8d6ad6-a621-464a-ae3e-a5642e484527-buick_rr.JPG?width=500&amp;height=253\" \/>The rear of the 2020 Buick Encore GX eschews the Encore&#8217;s vertical taillights for more premium, horizontal lights like the Buick LaCrosse.\u00a0<span class=\"credit\">(Photo: Buick)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Encore pioneered the subcompact segment and remains one of the hottest-selling small utes, the industry\u2019s fastest-growing segment. In 2018 the Encore even outsold its mainstream Chevy Trax stablemate,\u00a0bringing new customers\u00a0into Buick showrooms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">With the addition of the Encore GX, the Buick also stays ahead of GM\u2019s other premium brand, Cadillac, in slaking America\u2019s thirst for utes. Cadillac has lagged the SUV revolution even as Buick\u00a0led it. With its new XT4, Cadillac now has three crossovers on sale (the giant Escalade is based on a truck chassis).<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">The GX takes a page from Jeep and Nissan which have flooded the small crossover space with three offerings. Jeep has the Renegade, Compass\u00a0and Cherokee. Nissan has the Kicks, Rogue Sport and Rogue. In the premium space, only mega-luxury brands BMW, Audi and Mercedes offer multiple vehicles in the compact SUV space.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Today, 90 percent of\u00a0Buick sales come from SUVs. Its sedan offerings \u2013 once the cornerstone of the brand \u2013 will shrivel to one car, the European-made Regal, at the end of this year as the full-size LaCrosse goes out of production with the planned closing of GM\u2019s Hamtramck plant.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">The Encore GX is\u00a0slated to hit dealerships in the spring\u00a0of next year, and Buick is keeping details close to the vest for now.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">A Buick spokesperson said\u00a0that, in addition to the wardrobe upgrades, the GX would have more power, torque and efficiency than the Encore.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Standard items on the GX will include auto emergency and pedestrian braking, forward-collision alert and lane-keep assist.<\/p>\n<div id=\"module-position-R0yXSdBwq9o\" class=\"story-asset image-asset\">\n<aside class=\"wide single-photo\"><div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/05\/29\/PDTN\/b6ff3af2-0941-4f23-8565-14afa3689f50-buick_int.JPG?width=540&amp;height=&amp;fit=bounds&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"The interior of the 2020 Buick Encore GX echoes the entry-level Encore but adds more premium materials and cool toys like a rear-view camera mirror.\" width=\"540\" data-mycapture-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/05\/29\/PDTN\/b6ff3af2-0941-4f23-8565-14afa3689f50-buick_int.JPG\" data-mycapture-sm-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2019\/05\/29\/PDTN\/b6ff3af2-0941-4f23-8565-14afa3689f50-buick_int.JPG?width=500&amp;height=251\" \/>The interior of the 2020 Buick Encore GX echoes the entry-level Encore but adds more premium materials and cool toys like a rear-view camera mirror.\u00a0<span class=\"credit\">(Photo: Buick)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n<div class=\"clearfix\">Analyst Brinley says that Buick&#8217;s decision to pair the Encore&#8217;s name with GX \u2014 rather than inventing a new name \u2014 was a practical decision:\u00a0&#8220;It&#8217;s faster and easier to bringing an existing badge to market.&#8221;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2020 Buick Encore GX shares the Encore&#8217;s cute stance, but gains a more premium wardrobe with bigger grille, scalloped sides and remade c-pillar.\u00a0(Photo: Buick) Continuing its transformation as an SUV brand, Buick on Wednesday announced its fourth crossover, the Encore GX. The GX will slot between the subcompact\u00a0Encore and the compact Envision in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23800"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23800\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}