Buick has finally pulled the covers off the GL8 Avenir, a China-only luxury MPV poised to take on the Toyota Alphard-based Lexus LM. Like its Japanese rival, it’s available as a seven-seater and as an ultra-luxurious four-seater, but the Avenir adds a halfway-house six-seater option with two rows of captain’s chair seats.
As expected, the car is very similar to last year’s concept, with some of the chrome trim slightly dialled down for production. You still get a fairly ordinary MPV body, festooned with a large diamond-cut grille (complete with a chrome surround that almost bisects the sweptback matrix LED headlights), twin shoulder lines leading towards the L-shaped tail lights, and arching side windows.
Inside, the Avenir features a sweeping dashboard with a large display panel bearing twin 12.3-inch displays for the instruments and infotainment, along with a low stowage console with the gearlever instead being placed high on the dash itself. The seats are upholstered in leather with “custom perforation”, and you also get picnic tables with the six-seater version.
But it’s the four-seater model that really impresses with its business class-style rear seats and armrest consoles (with their own built-in displays) and brogued leather. The Avenir also comes with the latest eConnect 3.0 infotainment and connectivity services, and gets 100 GB of OnStar 4G LTE data as standard every month.
It’s also the first Buick to come with the company’s advanced driver assistance systems, including adaptive cruise control with stop and go and lane centring assist. Other features include exterior projection lighting, a head-up display, 10-point massage seats and an ambient lighting system with a whopping 128 colours!
No technical details just yet but Buick claims that the Avenir features “GM’s smart propulsion technology, which enhances fuel economy and driving performance.”
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I think in china this buick will kill off the alphard….china rich ppl prefer western stuffs