- The Buick Electra-X, designed at General Motors' Shanghai studio in China, previews the future of the brand for the lucrative China market.
- Buick recently revealed that its upcoming EVs will fly under the Electra banner, so this concept may also suggest the design direction for the U.S.-bound SUVs.
- The concept rides on the Ultium platform, as will the production EV that will arrive in the U.S. for 2025 and will share bits with the Cadillac Lyriq.
Buick has become a bit of an afterthought in the United States, with sales tapering off since the late 1990s. Meanwhile, the premium American brand has become a hit over in China. Over a million Buicks were sold in China as recently as 2018 (just over 200,000 Buicks found homes stateside that year), and Buick has registered more than 10 million sales there since its arrival in 1998. Given Buick's significance in that market, the company has now previewed its electric future for China with the Electra-X concept, which may also hint at what’s coming for the recently announced Electra sub-brand in the U.S.
The Electra-X is an SUV with sleek bodywork and a sloping roofline. The design was produced by General Motors' team in Shanghai, and the crossover is based on the Ultium platform that also underpins GM's Cadillac Lyriq and GMC Hummer EVs. The slim headlights sit above a wide-mouth grille with intricate triangular elements, while the rear features a trendy full-width light bar. Buick's new logo, which does away with the circle that traditionally surrounded the tri-shield design, adorns the nose, and the concept rides on 21-inch wheels.
The interior is airy thanks to a glass roof and thin pillars, and the dashboard features hidden air vents and a 30-inch screen with up to 6K resolution. The Electra-X's four seats are upholstered in a knit fabric made from recycled plastic bottles, and the voice control system can command nearly 50 different functions. The concept also features GM's Super Cruise driver-assistance technology that is already found on EVs including the Hummer and gas-powered vehicles including the Escalade.
There's no word on how much of the Electra-X's design will make it to the first U.S.-market Electra SUV. That vehicle will be unveiled for the U.S. in 2024 and will share a platform with the Lyriq, but between the Electra-X and the Wildcat concept, we are starting to get a pretty good sense of what Buick's future will look like.
Caleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan.
