The Buick GL8 Flagship Concept shows a luxury minivan unlike anything else we’ve seen.
Buick is surprisingly big in China. This American car brand has had a very long history in China and has been long held as a prestigious image, being associated with many politicians and modern historical figures in the country. In the 1990s, the company established joint ventures with local partners.
This week, Buick showed their future product direction in China in the form of the Buick GL8 Flagship Concept. It’s a futuristic luxury MPV that somehow tops the Hyundai Staria’s looks. It was developed by the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center with General Motors’ resourced and shown at the 2021 Guangzhou Auto Show.
Here’s the press release with details.
PRESS RELEASE
Inheritance and looking to the future
In 2000, GL8 started the first year of business MPV in China. In 2009, Buick GL8 Business concept car, let the GL8 family truly enter the “know you” era. For more than 20 years, GL8 has worked alongside aspirant, Now in China, it has become an era benchmark for “having a home, a career and follow your heart”. The Buick GL8 flagship concept car is a vision of a new time spirit, It conveys the “INTERACTIVE”, “QUIET”, “CLEAN” “IQC” Buick intelligent travel concept.
Deep integration of digital technology, humanities and arts, noble enjoyment, to create a majestic charm, immersive intelligent sensory experience. Pushed the luxurious and comfortable driving experience of MPV to a new height. At the same time, it is Avenir’s interpretation of the “new age” of Luxurious enjoyment. It’s also a great preview of the next generation GL8’s futuristic design and digital technology.
Forward-looking exterior design inspired by PURE aesthetics
Inspired by “PURE” aesthetics, the exterior of the concept car innovatively adopts a dual-color design for the front and rear part of the car body. Complementary to the “panoramic cockpit with a water curtain roof”, the design gives rise to a luxury sense of trendiness and avant-garde, built the visual connection between the interior and exterior. The potential sculptural surface, fitted with gulch-gold decorative strips running through the whole body, presents the overall elegant quality and immense momentum of the car in the form of mountain peaks. While bringing the artistic ingenuity, the design also highlights the philosophy of “best etiquette to all guests” adhered by Buick.
The V-shaped front face and “glistening matrix grille” are inspired by yacht traveling on static water, providing a sense of sailing ritual for your trips. In combination with the stretched-wing “interactive ray headlamp”, a unique front face symbol has been created. The 22-inch umbrella-shaped wheel hub, inspired by waves excited by a stone falling in water, produces an impression of outwardly expansive momentum, which not only creates a pristinely futuristic luxury but effectively reduces wind drag.
The greeting mode can be activated through the identify recognition system. The opening of the “theater-curtain” sliding door showcases the open communicative space of the car. The B pillar-less design reflects Buick’s new exploration of the “boundaries” of internal and external spaces.
Digital humanistic space and immersive user experience
A spatial arrangement of 4 seats is provided to highlight a court-like open communicative space.
The smart seat system comprises of two rotatable, front-rear movable zero-gravity seats, two independent rear seat couches and one movable and rotatable central mountain-water tea table. The flexible spatial combination expands the dimensions of use scenarios, such as face-to-face tea conversations, zero-gravity cruise and daily commute. The seats have flexible adjustment function and stretchable leg support, allowing passengers to rest in a most natural and relaxed state. The tea table offers a dramatic mountain and water views, which, in combination with the vibes of the tea chamber, exhibits a cozy aesthetics of life. Under the self-driving mode, the retracted steering wheel creates maximum space to serve people in different scenarios, providing an exclusively comfortable experience catering to both “business and home” needs.
The suspended dashboard minimizes mechanical structures to integrate digital technology with aesthetics, utilizing the 3D print technology to create highly expressive shapes and terraces-like texture. The 30-inch Free Form retina “circular-screen” presents one-take visual images to intensify immersive and interactive experience. On the left is artistically rendered real views while on the right is digital smart operation with flexibly arranged information. In the meantime, the car is also equipped with a VR system allowing each passenger to break through spatial boundaries.
The water curtain panoramic cockpit expands the horizon inside the car. The sunroof adopts an infinitely upward reflective light effect, creating a futuristic sense of boundless transparent space and the “combination of both reality and virtuality”.
Advanced Buick Quiet Tuning patent technology and dynamic air circulation system to ensure that passengers in the car every second can have a “Quiet”, “Clean” feeling.
The surface of the interior is smoothed out and changeable. The cross folded surface is inspired by paper folding, allowing for an ease of extension and retraction amid changes. The collision and integration between curves and surfaces bring us into a smart space connecting vehicle and human.
In the trunk area, there are two “personalized” partition storage space, with constant temperature and humidity environment. It provide intimate care during business reception also family travel.
Colors and Trim
The car exterior is rendered by Indigo to highlight national treasure-like brilliance and profoundness. The combination of colors like Azurite blue and Silk white, Ink black and Gulch gold produces spatial collision and integration. In alignment with hollowed-out golden lining and 3D folding techniques, it produces pure and elegant vibes for the cockpit. By incorporating the natural “straws” into seat framework, the design represents both a tribute to non-intangible culture and a practice of carbon neutrality.
Buick GL8 flagship concept will lead luxury comfort “new experience” of MPV and tell the “treat each other with courtesy” wisdom and philosophy of Buick. Create “multi-dimensional sensory” emotional resonance. Indicate Buick brand will continue to expand the new high-end MPV market segment.
