The Buick Sedan You Can’t Buy – But The Chinese Can
Buick still builds sedans, but not
for the U.S. See the stylish new model
sold exclusively in China.
Buick Electra i7 (Images courtesy of Buick)
AUTOBLOG
General Motors unveiled the Buick Electra L7 this week, a new mid-sized electric sedan designed exclusively for China. On the surface, it appears to be just another product launch, but the question remains: can an American automaker still have a future in the world’s most contested auto market?
The Buick Electra L7 is more than a flagship sedan; it’s GM’s China bet in the EV chess game.
About the Buick Electra L7
GM is touting the Electra L7 as a sleek four-door sedan built in partnership with its longtime Chinese joint venture partner, SAIC, as a C-Segment premium sedan aimed directly at the growing mainstream premium buyer who wants something more stylish than a BYD Qin or a Nio ET5.
BYD Qin
At 199 inches long, 77 inches wide, and 59 inches high, the Buick Electra L7 is 1.5 inches longer, 3.5 inches wider, and 1.5 inches taller than a 2019 Buick LaCrosse, the last new Buick sedan sold in the United States, and rides on a 118-inch wheelbase. It’s built using GM’s “Xiao Yao” architecture and employs Buick’s “Zhen Long” extended-range electric vehicle system, developed at GM’s Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center in Shanghai.
Buick Electra i7
It uses SAIC’s turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine in the front, which produces 154 horsepower, and a 252 kW rear motor that produces 338 horsepower and 188 miles of range in electric-only mode. Along with the 40.2-kWh Ultium lithium-iron phosphate battery pack, the Electra L7 gets a total range of 870 miles. Getting from 0 to 62 mph takes 5.9 seconds, according to Buick, while a front double-wishbone and rear five-link active suspension supplies the requisite balance of ride comfort and dynamic handling.
There’s a healthy dose of tech, too, including a 50-inch augmented reality head-up display and an assisted driving system for both urban streets and highways. It can self-park using a system that can be activated while the Electra L7 is moving, and the driver-assistance systems come courtesy of Chinese tech company Momenta. The cabin features two tablet-type displays, a 10.25-inch LCD instrument cluster, and a 15.6-inch center-mounted infotainment screen, and is lined in Nappa leather. A 27-speaker sound system provides audio with headrest speakers and active noise cancellation. All of this tech runs on Qualcomm’s 8775 chip.
Buick Electra i7 interior
The strategic wager
GM’s decision to double down on Buick in China comes at a time when the company has delayed several U.S. Ultium-based models, citing supply chain constraints and tepid demand. In China, however, EV adoption has raced ahead, driven by government subsidies, infrastructure buildout, and consumer interest. The winners so far have been domestic companies, including BYD — now the world’s largest EV maker — as well as many upstarts.
Tesla, once the aspirational foreign brand, is fighting to maintain its margins amid relentless local competition. GM’s bet is that Buick, uniquely among foreign badges, can avoid the fate of Tesla and carve out a trusted space among Chinese consumers, given its history in the Chinese market that dates back decades. The first cars brought to China were two Buicks, purchased by the last emperor of China, Emperor P’u-i, in 1924. Undoubtedly, GM cannot afford to leave China, the world’s largest auto market by volume.
Buick Electra i7
As U.S.-China relations deteriorate, the long-term risks of betting on Chinese growth are also escalating. If U.S.-China tensions worsen, GM could find itself being punished at home for being too reliant on China and being punished in China for being too foreign. Given Tesla’s travails, it seems that no Western company is immune to Beijing’s industrial priorities.
Final thoughts
The Buick Electra L7 is a stylish and high-tech sedan. However, its role may be as much about demonstrating that General Motors intends to remain a player that will shape the future of the auto industry, as it is about selling sedans. Of course, GM’s fate in China doesn’t hinge on the Buick Electra L7, but Buick’s China sales have fallen from their peak of 1.23 million vehicles in 2017 to approximately 517,000 units in 2023 – the most recent figures released. Still, the debut of the Buick Electra L7 shows the company still wants to play, and it’s putting some superb sheet metal in Sino showrooms, including the Electra E4 and E5 crossover SUVs. However, given the White House’s priorities, don’t expect to see them here anytime soon.