Bitauto Original On June 1, 2022, the Buick brand did three things in China: changed its logo + released a new car + released a concept car. This day also coincides with the first day that Shanghai, which has been plagued by the epidemic for more than two months, has completely lifted its lockdown in a practical sense and ushered in the resumption of work and production on a large scale. Therefore, after watching this press conference in Shanghai, I felt that the surrounding atmosphere was festive and peaceful, and my mood was somewhat exciting.
Why are these three things done together? I believe that the word "new" can explain many problems. The logo is new, which means a new beginning and a beautiful vision for the future. The Buick GL8 Century (hereinafter referred to as GL8 Century) and the Buick Electra-X concept car released this time have become the first models in China to carry Buick's new logo. I believe that everyone has more questions and curiosity about the two new cars. Next, let us use the official pictures to find out before we can experience the real cars up close.
About the new logo of the Buick brand
This time I will not go into too much detail on the evolution history of the Buick brand logo. I will mainly look at the changes in the new and old logos. Buick's new logo still continues the main shape of three shields, and the outer ring is removed, making the whole thing more concise; the three shields, from the past closely connected, arranged from bottom left to top right, have become the new ones. separated from each other and on a horizontal line The arrangement and layout; the internal shapes of each shield have also been adjusted, and the red, silver and blue color elements remain the same; careful people may have noticed that the two generations of shields have fine lines inside, but the old one is arranged vertically, while the new one is Five curves are arranged according to the contour characteristics.
This style of logo evolution, which tends to be flatter, has been adopted by many joint venture brands in recent years. The evolution of Buick’s new logo and styling changes are quite significant. I think that the iteration of the new logo must be paired with the release of a new model to be complete. It is easier to bring a stronger memory to people, and it will also give the new model more historical significance. So, Buick GL8 Century and Buick Electra-X concept car, are they worth it? Apparently yes.
First use your intuition to elicit a Buick model that ranks first in your mind
I think most people will say the name GL8 like me, right? If not for anything else, it’s just because it’s so good at fighting, and it’s so good that it almost crushes its peers and “has been PKed and never surpassed”... In fact, without too many words, the GL8 series models are the first in business reception occasions. The appearance rate and its rising family car purchase rate year after year show that it is not only the favorite of "bosses", but also becoming the first choice of more and more well-off families.
Since you already haveIn the case of GL8 Land Business Class and GL8 ES Lu Zun, why do we need a more high-end GL8 Century? I think Buick wants to further consolidate its dominant position in the business MPV market, and in what appears to be a higher-level market, Buick is also targeting several premium players from Japan. These can be seen from the GL8 concept car launched at the 2021 Guangzhou Auto Show. More than half a year later, it came with the production version of the GL8 Century, trying to rub its opponents on the ground again.
First of all, avoid a misunderstanding: CENTURY is not meant to replace Aivia
Judging from the official picture information, the full name of the GL8 model released this time should be "Buick GL8 Century Avia". After repeated confirmations with factory personnel, I came to some conclusions. In order of high-end models from low to high, they are GL8 land business class, GL8 ES Lu Zun, and GL8 Century. These three are respectively the three major car series of the GL8 family; among them, GL8 ES Lu Zun and GL8 Century has two versions: regular version and Aivia. In fact, it is not difficult to distinguish, and the new mobile phones are much simpler than the iPhone in terms of naming and differentiation.
Buick GL8 Century: two-color body + various seat layouts
We have already seen Buick’s 7/6/4-seater layout in the GL8 ES Lu Zun Aiwei model, so it will naturally be continued in the GL8 Century. However, from the official picture, we can judge that it should have a third row by observing the details of the second-row seat headrests near the C-pillar of the GL8 Century with a solid color (blue) body, but the specifics are Whether it will be a 6-seat version or a 7-seat version is currently unknown and remains to be verified in the future.
Of course, I believe everyone will still pay more attention to this 4-seater GL8 Century with a two-color (silver + green) body! The addition of two-color bodywork is a first for the GL8 model, and it is quite a tribute to the flagship model of the European ultra-luxury brand. But when you look at the development history of GL8 in China and the layout of the three major car series within the family, this approach of using a two-color body to flaunt its flagship purpose is still appropriate for the GL8 century. It’s just that the rendering effect of the official image is too strong. Whether the silver + green combination under natural light is a risky behavior remains to be verified in the future.
Buick GL8 Century: body shape undergoes transformation
Starting from the GL8 model, whether it is the first generation, the old Land Cruiser, the Fathead Fish, the new Land Cruiser, or the Land Business Class... most of the impressions they give people are long fronts, large lights, and large inclinations. A-pillar and so on. On the GL8 Century, the situation has undergone a significant transformation. Its front is significantly higher. The inverted L-shaped headlights and the thick decorative strips at the bottom of the new logo further deepen the visual effect of the high front., the angle between the front windshield and the hood has also become flatter.
Of course, there are many aspects of inheritance, such as the use of details with curved elements on the side window line and above, and the overall shape of the tailgate that resembles a straight cut, especially the latter. The design has created higher trunk space utilization in all previous generations of GL8. Speaking of the rear of the car, you will definitely be attracted by the through-type taillight design of the GL8 Century. This is also a transformation. It is very domineering, has a complex structure, and is easy to leave a deep impression on people. But I have to say, combined with the "transformation" mentioned in these two paragraphs, there is reason to believe that Buick was more or less influenced by some Japanese competing products in the process of designing high-end MPVs.
Looking at the body size again, the length, width and height of the GL8 Century reach 5230/1980/1867mm, and the wheelbase is 3130mm. Only the length is a negligible 8mm less than the land-based business class, and the rest of the dimensions exceed the land-based business class and ES Lu Zun. Therefore, we should expect that the interior space of the GL8 Century will be the most outstanding among the three major car series of the family. But in fact, its success lies not in this, but in the more in-depth "fine decoration".
Buick GL8 Century: using first-class interior
If you have to pick some shortcomings of the previous GL8 ES Lu Zun Aviya 4-seater version, it may be that it is not private enough and cannot provide more isolation for the "bosses" in the back seat. This time, the GL8 Century Aviya 4-seater version did it! It first adds a partition between the front row and the second row, and then equips it with a large-size multimedia screen that can be raised and lowered with one button (it also has a screen projection function). It is very exclusive and private, and "bosses" should be able to Satisfied.
It’s not over yet. The back row also has a starry sky roof, headrest BOSE speakers, and 2 sets of oversized “aviation-grade” seats with complete functions... What’s even more comfortable is that when you are half-lying, the side seats The square field of view covers the two large windows between the B/C/D pillars. It is recommended that everyone experience this unobstructed view in a car with the same seat layout when they have the opportunity.
The official has only released pictures of the rear row of the 4-seater version of the GL8 Century Aviya this time. This will surely be the most luxurious appearance of the GL8 Century. The interior layout and functions of its front row or other versions of the model need to be further verified in the future. The manufacturer has not announced the power system information of the GL8 Century this time. It is expected to still use the 2.0T+48V light hybrid code-named LXH, with a maximum horsepower of 237Ps and a peak torque of 350Nm, matched with a 9AT manual transmission.
Buick Electra-X concept car: starting with a panoramic HUD
Introducing the chapter of the Electra-X concept car at the Buick launch conferenceDuring the festival, my friends and I were attracted by one of its panoramic HUD screen demonstrations. On the front windshield of the vehicle, multimedia, navigation, weather, driving assistance information and other content can be displayed from left to right, and almost the entire front windshield area is used... Yes, if the GL8 Century is relying on luxury and exclusivity If it wins, then the key word of the Electra-X concept car is smart technology.
The Electra-X concept car is based on GM's Alto pure electric platform, and its future mass production model will also be Buick's first pure electric SUV on this platform. Speaking of the AutoNon platform, you may think of the Hummer EV and Cadillac LYRIQ that have been unveiled before. Yes, they are indeed related. Therefore, both the Electra-X concept car and future mass-produced cars based on it will use the iconic wireless battery management system (wBMS) of the Autono platform. But this is not the point. After all, it is still in the concept car stage. Buick's design concept and intelligent technology level for future concept cars displayed by it are the focus that should be paid attention to.
In terms of the appearance of the Electra-X concept car, Buick first used a white paint to further emphasize its "PURE Design concept." It does look young, sporty, and futuristic, and its body outline is that of a standard coupe SUV. The front part of the car has both an aggressive and angular shape, and the front face is decorated with scales that gradually spread downward. The combination is relatively coordinated and does not give you an overly conceptual sense of isolation.
From the shape of its left front fender and the isolated Buick logo, it is easy to tell that this is the location of its charging interface, which is the same as that of LYRIQ. Judging from the effect of the concept car, the connection between the front windshield and the roof glass, as well as the connection between the front and rear side window glass, all adopt a dark integrated visual transition, which looks simple enough. This must also be "PURE" One of the starting points of "Design pure design concept".
Compared with the mass-produced LYRIQ, the Electra-X concept car adopts more curved shapes in its appearance instead of tough lines. I think this will increase its future audience scope to a certain extent. Simple In other words, the shape is easily accepted by more people. The through-type taillights adopt an overall convex shape, combined with the three-pronged shape at both ends, which enhances the recognition of the rear part of the car. At this time, if you look at the logo on the rear of the car and the curved background of the tailgate that carries the logo, simplicity meets simplicity...
As for the interior part of the car, let’s take a look at the seat shape and the functions on the door interior panels. In the future mass-produced version, theseThe two parts are bound to be more in line with today's usage habits. Inside the cockpit, the center console is worth talking about. First of all, it has abandoned almost all physical buttons. Even the knobs on the central armrest seen on the LYRIQ have become touch-sensitive buttons on the Electra-X concept car. Control style, everything is to look more technological.
The curved screen behind the steering wheel has a size of 30 inches and a resolution of 6K. The new generation VCS smart cockpit system equipped with the Electra-X concept car uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip. In addition, it is also equipped with GM's new generation Super Cruise super assisted driving system. The system currently has a driver attention maintenance system and a centimeter-level high-precision map data system. It also integrates a high-precision GPS positioning system and supports OTA upgrades.
Although the seat shape is not used as a reference, from the seat layout, it can at least be determined that the future mass production version of the Electra-X concept car will be a 4-seater or 5-seater car (without a third row). At present, Buick has not announced the motor parameters, battery capacity and other information of the Electra-X concept car, but it has claimed that the mass-produced version will be officially unveiled in 2022. Interested friends may as well look forward to it from now on!
Editor's comment: On this day, Buick presented its future owners with a brand new brand logo, a GL8 Century that represents the highest strength of the brand at this stage, and an Electra-X concept car with a promising future. A creative "Children's Day wish". At least we can feel the brand's dominance in consolidating its existing advantages and its determination to maintain its uniqueness. According to the manufacturer, the first GL8 Century will be available to everyone in the near future. Bosses... remember to experience the new car accompanied by a driver!