Buick Avenir: An Appropriate Name For A Big New Sedan

Published on January 12, 2015 in Detroit by Marc Lachapelle

Buick created shock waves mere hours before the first media day of the 2015 Detroit Auto Show when it took the wraps off a concept dubbed Avenir – simply French for “future”. The big luxury sedan prompted spontaneous and prolonged applause from a few hundred journalists and guests gathered in a huge renovated warehouse.

The Avenir’s long and powerful silhouette was designed by a group of GM Australia stylists, and its elegantly modern interior by a group of their North American colleagues. Both claim to have drawn inspiration from classic designs associated with a brand that is more than 100 years old, going back to the gorgeous Buick Y-Job, the company’s – and the industry’s – very first concept car, produced in 1938.

The Avenir’s big chrome “waterfall” grille recalls some of the majestic Buicks of the 1950s, and there is a reference to the sublime ’63 Riviera in the roof line and the curvaceous tail.

This is quite obviously more than just a styling exercise. Buick is at pains to make it clear that this big sedan would be powered by a new-generation V6 with direct injection, cylinder deactivation and auto stop/start.

It would have a dual-clutch 9-speed automatic, all-wheel drive, driver-selectable suspension damping and 21-inch wheels.

The four occupants would enjoy Buick’s next-generation IntelliLink infotainment system, with a 12 inch touchscreen, automatic recognition of driver preferences, wireless charging for electronic devices, a 4G LTE OnStar system with Wi-Fi hotspot, and ionic cabin air filtration.

All this is calculated to appeal to Chinese buyers, among others, who have a passion for the Buick brand and have to drive through megalopolises with very high levels of air pollution. From a position at the top of the Buick range, this new sedan would definitely help sales volume, which reached 1 million last year in China, almost four times as many as Buick sells in the whole of North America.

More than enough reason to rush to market with a production version of the Avenir, whose elegant and well chosen name already presages good things for a brand which the last Chinese emperor preferred over cars from Rolls-Royce early in the last century.

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