We first saw Buick's Enclave at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, in January - and this all-new Buick crossover was one of the stars of the event.
For the consumer, a compelling entry has arrived, with both the heritage and the technology to lead the evolving grand-tourer realm of an emerging crossover segment.
For the Buick enthusiast, Enclave reassures that the brand's future is in capable hands.
"It's concept and reality in the same phrase," emphasizes Exterior Designer Guy Whitla.
"It represents where Buick is going, but it's now!"
"Buick is all about the romance of the automobile, so emotion plays a big role in what Buick presents," Whitla affirms. We could not agree more.
"I wanted to send a message that the Enclave specifically represents a new generation of Buick design... of Buick spirit... of Buick philosophy," explains
Enclave Interior Designer Michael Burton, a man who well remembers, as a boy, his uncle purchasing a
Buick Electra 225 (the Deuce and a Quarter) every five years.
When it comes to crossovers, Buick was there at the beginning, with
Rendezvous. Enclave takes both brand and segment further still. Buick has
brought such
art to the industry, in its one hundred and three years of designing automobiles - and so the expectations for
Enclave are high.
With curvaceous form expressing the bold elegance that befits the magnanimous Buick brand,
Enclave proudly sports ventiports, flourishes of Buick's storied heritage that seem eminently comfortable atop
Enclave's intricate surfacing. Meanwhile,
Enclave's prominent grille is quintessentially Buick and, in its use of vertical bars to fill a wide horizontal space, it can be traced to the
1938 Buick Y-Job Concept (the first ever concept car).
Guy Whitla compares Enclave's headlamps to a highly-exclusive watch: beautifully framed, with precise technology within.
Buick has introduced Enclave with 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.
In Enclave, Buick seeks something more sculpted than assembled, an ethic demonstrated in such modern icons as an
iPod Nano; a Gibson guitar, or a Cannondale bike.
"Enclave is the full expression of Buick's craftsmanship; comfort, and technical sophistication, wrapped in an exciting, youthful form," says GM Vice-President of Global Design Ed Welburn, who adds that
Enclave designers Jack Folden and Guy Whitla (exterior), and Michael Burton (interior), sought to acknowledge the romanticism of classic Buick design.
Referencing Buick's mantra, Vehicle Line Executive Pete Nico suggests,
"Beyond Precision is key in several areas:" tight body fits must make adjacent panels and materials look as though they were born together. The entire idea, Nico explains, is to give the customer more than what they would expect: value, a key piece of
Buick Reassurance.We see Enclave as the watershed mark in an ongoing renaissance at Buick, akin to that accomplished some forty-five years ago. In the early-60s, Ed Rollert came to Buick with the recipe of solid engineering. The strategy produced the compact
1961 Buick Special and the glorious
1963 Riviera coupé: both wonderful Buicks; superlative automobiles, and qualified successes.
In 1961, the market was hungry for compact cars.
In 2006, the market is hungry for crossovers.
Pre-Enclave, the Buick line-up has been fresh since 2002.
Post-Enclave, Buick as a whole is new since 2004, giving the brand among the youngest lines in the industry.
Even in name, Buick has considered its future.
"Enclave evokes images of style; luxury, and the privacy of a quiet, protected space," explains Buick General Manager Steve Shannon.
Since, for Buick, quiet is an important ergonomic quality, we expect
Enclave's QuietTuning process to set new standards for the crossover segment. Featured in all Buicks,
QuietTuning is designed to reduce or tune out unwanted noise and harshness throughout every area of the vehicle. Attention to areas such as exterior aerodynamics; component isolation, and fine-tuning of all related elements achieve the quietest ride and most desirable frequency ranges for every Buick.
Gearbox noise; load reversal; auxiliaries; road noise; resonance effects; mechanical squeaks and rattles; idle noise, and pass-by noise must be minimized, while actuation (windows and other devices, for instance) and engines are to be tuned.
Like the trend-setting Buick Rendezvous, the new
Buick Enclave rides on a unibody chassis for car-like handling and fuel economy. A midsize crossover with a 119-inch wheelbase,
Enclave allows for a third row of seats (unlike
Infiniti's FX; Lincoln's MKX, or
Mazda's CX-7), thus seating up to six passengers in uncompromised comfort.
Enclave engineer Todd Pawlik assures that while the third-row seats of competitors' vehicles are suitable only for children, the
Enclave will emphasize Buick's traditional ergonomic value of space, for all. Meanwhile, Vehicle Line Director Pete Nico promises a flat load floor.
Inside Enclave, a mix of nostalgia and warmth will closely mirror the concept interior that stunned journalists in Detroit with its opulence. Interior Designer Michael Burton emphasizes that his goal in designing Enclave's interior was to bring traditional Buick swagger and style - what we have dubbed the brand's
magnanimity - to the new crossover; to give each passenger a private, intimate space that resembled that of a private jet.
A panoramic sunroof is expected to figure, among several intriguing options.
Under the hood, a 3.6-liter dual-overhead-cam V6 offers 270 horsepower, mated to a six-speed automatic transmission.
Shown as a near-production concept, the
Buick Enclave will debut in April 2007 as a
2008 model.
Enclave prototypes are currently undergoing testing of up to 3 million miles. We expect this newest of Buicks to be a resounding success, and this space will evolve as Buick puts
Enclave through its final paces.
The Buick Enclave will be built at the new $1.5 billion Delta Township plant near Lansing, Michigan, by approximately 3,000 team members. At 2.4 million square feet, the Lansing Delta Township complex has taken almost 1.2 million construction hours to build, and has used over 100,000 yards of concrete; 14,000 tons of structural steel, and 200 miles of wire during construction.
Yet Lansing Delta Township was constructed 20% faster than was the five-year-old Lansing Grand River facility, giving Buick the ability to move Enclave to market quickly. Before a single stone was laid, the Delta Township plant was first designed virtually, making Buick parent company General Motors the first automotive manufacturer to utilize 3-d math modeling to build production facilities.
Moreover, the U.S. Green Building Council on August 3rd, 2006 gave the Delta Township facility gold certification, naming it the world's most environmentally-friendly auto plant. GM met the criteria using inventive and practical means to save natural resources and protect the local environment, such as surrounding the building in a thermal envelope (a 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; having robots operate in the dark; using rainwater to flush toilets, and reusing material from closed plants.
If you're curious about what Vehicle Line Director Pete Nico;
Buick Enclave Designers Jack Folden; Guy Whitla, and Michael Burton, and
Buick Enclave engineers Grace Lieblein and Todd Pawlik have to say about
Enclave, in their own words, we highly recommend
Buick's new Enclave mini-site, now playing.
