A refreshed and refeatured 2017 Buick Encore compact luxury crossover SUV made is arriving, continuing the brand’s ever evolving renaissance in to new places and market segments.
What does that mean? Renaissance? Buick has been growing by leaps and bounds, but not so much in the U.S., but in China and other markets around the world. But even here in North America, models like the Encore are fueling slowly the emergence of a new image for GM’s mid-level luxury nameplate.
To wit, the Buick Encore which is manufactured in South Korea and imported here since 2013, has become more popular than expected here. It brings younger buyers into Buick showrooms, and performs well against many competitors in the class, the top selling Buick in 2015.
To keep this movement afoot, the 2017 Buick Encore gets a number of design enhancements inside and out, as well as new features to keep it competitive but also to embrace the brand’s new design theme we first saw in the Avenir Concept a year ago.
A new front-end design pulls those cues in its new grille that sports a bold horizontal fin instead of the waterfall vertical bars of before. In the center is the new tri-color Buick logo, and framing it are all-new headlamps with a more formal look.
LED headlamps will come on top trim levels of the 2017 Encore, and at the rear are new LED tail lamps in addition to a revised rear bumper fascia and rear hatch trims. A new 18-inch wheel joins the line as do a number of new colors.
Updates continue inside where an all-new dash design is unique to the Encore, with a more elegant and sweeping look than before. Higher quality materials with soft touch surfacing are the new hotness in addition to contrast stitching and chrome details throughout.
A upgraded instrument cluster now has a color 4.2-inch-diagonal information screen, and the center stack gets Buick’s latest frameless 8-inch color touch screen infotainment system. The latter will offer this year Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality.
Connectivity options will of course include GM’s OnStar 4G LTE with a Wi-Fi hotspot that allows passengers to connect up to seven devices to high-speed wireless Internet for a monthly fee of course – though the Encore only seats five.
Powertrain choices will carry over from the 2016 Buick Encore, which are two variations of its 1.4-liter turbocharged and direct-injected four-cylinder. Available with both front-wheel and all-wheel drive, both engines come with a six-speed automatic transmission only.
The 2017 Encore goes on sale this fall, with official EPA estimates and pricing to be announced closer to that time. Though, don’t expect huge changes in either regard from 2016 models.
