Buick Enclave
Following more than 3 million miles of testing, Enclave debuted in April 2007. Buick's latest is a compelling grand tourer, with both the heritage and the technology to lead among luxury crossovers. It is, promises GM Vice-President of Design Ed Welburn,
"the full expression of Buick's craftsmanship, comfort, and technical sophistication, wrapped in an exciting, youthful form." Buick sold 30,000 Enclaves in the model's first 6 months on the market; and 90% of buyers opted for the highly optioned CXL version. The 7-passenger crossover won rave reviews from automotive media, who confirmed it as a worthy competitor to counterparts from no less than Mercedes-Benz and Lexus. Enclave's turn rate - the time from build to purchase - was, at 14 days, the fastest of any crossover.
"At the end of 2007, we had just 4,000 Enclaves in inventory, because every month retail sales outstripped the inventory we were building," Lloyd Bierman, marketing manager, told AutoObserver.
"It's an interesting problem to have." Interesting, perhaps; but not surprising.
When it comes to crossovers, Buick was there at the beginning, with Rendezvous. Now, with beautiful design, a library-quiet interior, a smooth and controlled ride, and stunning attention to detail, Enclave takes both brand and segment further still.
Mindful of the art that the brand has brought to the industry, in its 100+ years, Enclave exterior designer Guy Whitla affirms,
"Buick is all about the romance of the automobile, so emotion plays a big role in what Buick presents." Moreover, for the Buick enthusiast, Enclave reassures that the brand's future is in capable hands. Says Whitla,
"it's concept and reality in the same phrase... it represents where Buick is going, but it's now!" Adds interior designer Michael Burton, who as a boy watched in awe as his uncle brought home a sparkling Electra 225 every five years:
"I wanted to send a message that the Enclave represents a new generation of Buick design... Buick spirit... Buick philosophy." Its curvaceous form expressing bold, magnanimous elegance, Enclave proudly sports ventiports, flourishes of Buick's storied heritage that seem eminently comfortable atop Enclave's intricate surfacing. Meanwhile, the prominent grille is quintessentially Buick. In its use of vertical bars to fill a wide, horizontal space, it can be traced to the 1938 Buick Y-Job concept (the world's first ever concept car).
Guy Whitla parallels Enclave's headlamps with the design of an exclusive watch: beautifully framed, with precise technology within.
With Enclave, Buick displays a new understanding of quality. The Buick brand's overflowing shelves of J.D. Power quality, durability, and customer service awards, while enviable, must be matched by quality as an aesthetic: a desire to construct an organic whole, going beyond craft to become art. Tight body fits make adjacent panels and materials look as though they were born together. In Enclave, Buick seeks something more sculpted than assembled, an ethic upheld by such modern icons as an iPod Nano, a Gibson guitar, or a Cannondale bike.
Like its trend-setting Rendezvous predecessor, Enclave rides a unibody chassis for car-like handling and fuel economy. Inside, the atmosphere is a heady mix of nostalgia and warmth. Enclave's long, 119-inch wheelbase allows for a third row of seats (unlike Infiniti's FX, Lincoln's MKX, or Mazda's CX-7), thus offering seating for up to 7 passengers in uncompromising comfort. Enclave engineer Todd Pawlik assures that while the third-row seats of competitors' vehicles are suitable only for children, Enclave is strong on space; it is, after all, a Buick. Interior designer Michael Burton emphasizes that his goal was to bring back traditional Buick swagger and style; to give each passenger a private, intimate space resembling that of a private jet.
Even in name, Buick has considered its future.
"Enclave evokes images of style, luxury, and the privacy of a quiet, protected space," explained Buick general manager Steve Shannon at launch.
As a luxury grand tourer in the best Buick tradition, Enclave offers an efficient 3.6-liter direct-injection DI engine that delivers a class-leading EPA highway rating of 24 mpg, in front-wheel drive models.
Meanwhile, on August 3rd, 2006, the U.S. Green Building Council gave the plant which builds Enclave
"gold certification," naming it the world's most environmentally friendly auto plant. Inventive and practical means to save natural resources and protect the local environment included surrounding the building in a thermal envelope (with reflective roof, and thick insulation at the base) to cut down on heating and cooling costs, placing translucent panels throughout the ceiling to let in natural light, enabling robots to operate in the dark, using rainwater to flush toilets, and reusing material from closed plants.
This new, $1.5 billon Delta Township plant near Lansing, Michigan, employs approximately 3,000 people. At 2.4 million square feet, the complex took almost 1.2 million construction hours to build, with more than 100,000 yards of concrete, 14,000 tons of structural steel, and 200 miles of wire. The facility was designed virtually, before even a single stone was laid, making General Motors the first automotive manufacturer ever to use 3d math modeling to build a factory.