2024 Envision Delayed Amid Buick Sales Surge

General Motors is delaying the refreshed Buck Envision it introduced last summer until the fourth quarter of 2024, almost a year later than the automaker previously had planned.GM has not stated reasons for the delay.

Buick delivered 34,842 Envision CUVs through the third quarter, a 91% increase over the previous year, per GM’s third-quarter sales report. A remake of the Encore CUV into the Encore GX, and the addition of the entry-level Envista compact CUV this year, have given the Buick brand a shot in the arm with sales up 60% through November. But dealer inventories stood at 106 days at the end of November, per Cox Automotive, forcing some extra discounting through the end of this year.

The delay of the Envision comes amid a great deal of speculation around the future of Buick in the U.S. as half of the domestic-market franchise holders have elected to take buyouts this year rather than invest in selling and servicing electric vehicles. Buick, though, will still have about 1,000 U.S. sales points at the end of this year.

GM has bought out Buick dealers who declined to invest at least $300,000 to sell and service its future EVs. Dealers accepting the offer, many of which are in rural markets, will no longer sell Buick vehicles, but they can continue to sell GMC and Chevrolet brand vehicles as most are dual-branded.

Most of Buick’s global sales are in China –  653,122 in 2022 – where the brand has long enjoyed an image of prestige that largely evaporated in the U.S. decades ago. But sales are under pressure there as Buick has not offered a battery-electric-vehicle in a market where BEV sales are surging among China’s home-country companies.

Sales in China were down 21.1% in 2022, and are running 14% lower in 2023.

GM has said it plans to make Buick an all-BEV brand by 2030. All future Buick BEVs will carry the name Electra. 

The Envision’s improvements, as shown by GM last July, feature a new face that is common with the new Encore and Envista, a new digital dashboard and the addition of the new Buick tri-shield logo. The headlights are now integrated into the bumper, with LED daytime running lights replacing the current headlights.

The ‘24 Envision is expected to arrive in three all-wheel-drive trims: Preferred, Sport Touring and Avenir. No front-drive configurations are expected.

The outgoing ‘23 Buick Envision had a base price of $34,745. There has been one powertrain available up to now, a 228-hp turbo 4-cyl. GM has not said whether the power output will change with the ’24 model.