On Tuesday morning we reported on the demise of the Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing, along with the entirety of the CT4 line. Its larger CT5 sibling is soon to be discontinued as well, though we already knew Cadillac is working on a gas-powered replacement for the CT5, hopefully one that will wear a better name. It turns out we didn’t have to wait long for news about the next-gen CT5, as on Tuesday afternoon Automotive News put out a report saying the new Cadillac sedan will start production in fall 2027.
Much more importantly, the report states that not only will the CT5 replacement be joined by a next-gen Chevrolet Camaro — something that we didn’t have much hope for just a year ago — but the platform will also spawn a brand-new Buick sedan. That means we’re getting a rear-wheel-drive Buick for the first time in thirty years, finally (hopefully) making good on some of the brand’s show car promises from the past few decades, like the 2015 Avenir sedan and 2016 Avista coupe concepts, the latter of which is the car you see in the above and below photos. Remember the Avista? Y’all went feral for that thing.
Its Camaro and Cadillac siblings will be out next year
A few weeks ago GM Authority first published a rumor that General Motors was considering a Buick sedan, but Automotive News‘ new reporting is a bit more concrete, citing an unnamed source at a major supplier to GM. That source says the Buick and its Cadillac and Chevy siblings will be built at GM’s Lansing Grand River plant in Michigan that currently builds the CT4 and CT5 (and used to produce the Camaro and a bunch of other Cadillacs). From AN:
GM has started requesting quotes for key parts and components from key suppliers for the Buick sedan, the source said. Details about the new Buick sedan, including when production will start, potential price and styling elements, were not known. Production of the next-generation CT5 and Camaro are expected to begin in Lansing in fall 2027, the source said. GM expects to produce 60,000 to 70,000 CT5 and Camaro vehicles annually at the plant, according to the source.
The addition of the Buick sedan provides more clarity about the future of GM’s Lansing assembly plant, which will produce just one vehicle, the CT5, after the CT4 is discontinued in June. “We’ve heard the rumors, and it kind of makes sense because the Chevrolet and the Cadillac are very unlikely to fill that plant,” said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions. “Adding a third model would help boost the utilization of Lansing Grand River, though it will still be well underutilized because there’s just not going to be a huge market” for sedans. Annual production of the Buick sedan could be limited to between 10,000 and 20,000 vehicles because of affordability concerns and U.S. consumers’ general preference for crossovers, Fiorani said.
The vehicles will be underpinned by a new version of GM’s Alpha 2 platform, potentially dubbed Alpha 2-2. There are essentially no details yet, but if I were a betting man, I’d say it will use a range of turbocharged and probably hybridized engines, with a V8 (and maybe manual transmission) likely for at least the Camaro and Cadillac, if not this new Buick. All-wheel drive will almost certainly be an option. It won’t take much to bring some much-needed excitement and performance chops to the brand.
Buick already has a RWD sedan in China
There hasn’t been a rear-wheel-drive Buick car since the 1996 Roadmaster wagon, and the last time we got a Buick sedan in the U.S. was the Regal, which was discontinued in 2020. That car was essentially a rebadge job of the Opel Insignia liftback, and while we did get a sporty GS model, its front-wheel-drive platform didn’t have the performance that some Buick fans really hoped for. This new model should be a much more credible entry in the still-popular compact luxury sedan segment, going up against the likes of the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Infiniti’s next-gen Q50. The existence of cheap models such as the Envista and Encore GX crossovers means Buick won’t have to worry about going after entry-level buyers.
Buick
Buick does have a few current models we can look to for an idea of what the automaker might be cooking up. Buick offers four different sedans in China, including that final Regal generation still, and the most interesting of them is the Electra L7. Based on a rear-drive platform, the Electra L7 (pictured above) is offered with fully electric or range-extender powertrains, the latter using a small turbo-four engine. It looks really good, too. I’m sure the Alpha 2-2 Buick will be designed for American tastes, but I do like the design language Buick is already working with. We’ve also seen a bunch of Buick sedan concepts recently, like the Electra GS and Electra Orbit concepts last year, both of which are admittedly much larger than this new model will likely be. But that Orbit show car (below) was especially spectacular, with a jet-era design that would look amazing scaled-down on a sportier car.
Buick
And who knows, maybe this new Buick sedan will be so popular and cool that Buick decides to make a coupe version of it. Chevy will already have that new Camaro, after all, so it wouldn’t be that hard. (I bet Chevy will finally be doing a Camaro sedan, too.) Then all of you who were begging Buick to build the Avista can put your money where your mouth is.
