The Buick LaCrosse had a decent run here in the United States but was discontinued after the 2019 model year. It lives on in China, where Buick sells several times the number of vehicles it does here, and the country is getting a next-generation sedan with a massive screen and flagship design features.
Buick has long flirted with sleek styling and high-tech features to help it break out of the “grandma’s car” stereotype, and the new LaCrosse moves further in that direction. It features Buick’s new three-shield logo, a sculpted shape, and matrix headlights.
Beyond the fact that it’s a new Buick we don’t get, the big story with the new LaCrosse comes in its interior, where the car sports a 30-inch display with 6K resolution. It’s the same screen spec we saw in the reveal of the Electra E5 EV, another China-only Buick. Here’s a look at that screen:
The curved panel features a wireless charging pad on top and storage underneath, and the Avenir trim brings luxury features like ventilated and massaging seats. A neat walk-up feature can detect the owner’s smartphone and activate a welcome lighting animation with illuminated door handles and other lighting features.
Though Buick recently announced its first EV for China, the LaCrosse will continue on with internal combustion. The automaker’s filing with China’s regulatory authority showed the car getting a 2.0-liter turbo-four, but there’s no word on electrification for the LaCrosse.
GM announced plans to move away from smartphone connections like Apple CarPlay with its EVs in the future, but the gas-powered LaCrosse may not get it, anyway. Apple’s market share in China is declining, and automakers in the country hesitate to invest in the technology when so many worry about data privacy and sharing of proprietary engineering information.
Buick killed off its car lineup a few years ago, so it’s unlikely we’ll see the new LaCrosse on our shores. Instead, we’re getting another crossover, the Envista, which gets a tiny turbocharged gas engine and a modest starting price.
