Buick unveiled a new minivan for the Chinese market last week.
Called the GL8 Century, it is a new range-topping alternative to Buick’s minivan range in China that already includes the GL8 Avenir, GL8 ES and GL8 Legacy models.
The GL8 Century has distinct styling features that were first previewed by the GL8 flagship concept unveiled last year. Smooth surfacing and slit-like headlights follow Buick’s current design language policy for Chinese-market vehicles, a language that has also shaped the recent Electra-X concept. The styling of the upcoming Buicks sold in North America is even better represented by the recent Wildcat EV concept.
2022 Buick GL8 Century
The GL8 Century measures an impressive 206 inches in length but not about how many seats you can cram inside the car. Instead the focus is on comfort and as a result there are only two rows, the second row has only one pair of reclining seats. These seats are wider and more comfortable than other GL8 variants, and for the first time the seat headrest has built-in Bose speakers. The headliner also has a Starlight motif that you can order at Rolls-Royce.
Buick did not elaborate on the powertrain but other GL8 models offer turbocharged inline-4 options.
The GL8 Century will go on sale in China later this year. It is one of 12 new Buicks to be launched by 2025, five of which will be electric cars One of these EVs will be an Electra that will go on sale in North America in 2024 Buick announced last week that it would become a full-fledged EV brand by 2030