Buick showed the harbinger of the new generation GL8 minivan: autopilot and a tea table in the cabin
The official presentation of the show car of the American brand owned by GM took place as part of the auto show that opened in Guangzhou.
Buick developed the GL8 mono-dispenser specifically for the Chinese market: it entered the lineup in 1999. Production has been established at the facilities of a local plant owned by a joint venture between General Motors and SAIC. The second generation car was introduced in 2010, and six years later the “third” minivan entered the market. For some time, all three generations of the model were present on the Chinese market, but then the “first” GL8 was abandoned anyway. Now second and third generation minivans are presented here, and in 2020 both models have undergone modernization. Meanwhile, the company is working on the next – the fourth – Buick GL8.
Pictured: Buick GL8 Concept
The predecessor of the flagship minivan is a concept presented by the American brand at the Guangzhou Auto Show. The show car was created by employees of the Shanghai Technology Center, which includes specialists from both SAIC and GM. The company noted that in the new generation they intend to “bring the car to a new level” in the segment of luxury minivans.
The presented concept minivan looks quite futuristic. At the same time, he retained a recognizable silhouette. The hood, windshield and transparent roof form a single whole; in front, a huge cap with a pattern in the form of large cells attracts attention. The brand logo is located in the center of the edge of the hood, and under it are bright letters of its name. The optics of the L-shaped head is located on the sides at a considerable distance from the grid.
The taillights visually retain the shape of the headlights, although their design is smoother and more boomerang-like. There is a small spoiler at the top of the stern; The concise tailgate was also adorned with branding and company name. On the side at the bottom, just behind the front wheel, you can see the word Avenir, I remember that the top version of the current minivan has this prefix to the name.
The interior is also probably still far from serial implementation. The interior of the luxurious minivan is designed for four, with a small table between the rows, the surface of which is transformed into an innovative tea tray. The front passenger seat can be rotated 180 degrees so that the passenger on it looks at the person sitting behind. The front panel has a large driver-oriented display. Its diagonal is 30 inches, it probably plays the role of both a virtual “device” and a touchscreen of the infotainment system (by the way, multimedia listens to voice commands). There is another touch screen on the steering wheel.
The company noted that the concept is equipped with V2X intelligent mobility technology, which means that it has received a number of functions and capabilities for autonomous control. The system allows you to quickly communicate with other vehicles, people, infrastructure and cloud services and react accordingly.
The company did not say anything about the “stuffing” of the Buick GL8 concept. Note that the current third-generation minivan is equipped with a 2.0-liter turbocharged quattro gasoline engine and its power is 237 hp. The engine is mated to a nine-speed Hydra-Matic automatic transmission. The model is front-wheel drive only.
