China Beats America At Its Own Jet-Age Futurism Game With Wonderful Buick Orbit Concept

China has been Buick’s most important market for years now, making up more than 70% of the brand’s global sales. Buick offers all sorts of advanced and luxurious models in China like the Century minivan and Electra sedan, with the Chinese market also getting electric and extended-range hybrid powertrains that Buick doesn’t offer in America. Earlier this year at the Shanghai Auto Show Buick revealed the Electra GS concept, a large sedan with centaur-inspired design, but now there’s a new Buick concept from GM China, and it’s an absolute stunner.

Called the Electra Orbit, the company says it’s “a dreamlike expression of creativity and technological ambition—an artistic exploration that stretches the boundaries of Buick design and hints at what the future could hold.” Developed by the GM China Advanced Design Center with a bit of help from the GM Technical Center Korea, Buick says the Orbit takes inspiration from the jet age of the 1950s, drawing from things like sci-fi spaceships and GM’s iconic Motorama concept cars. It’s a natural next step from GM’s current futuristic production designs like the Cadillac Celestiq, and I think the Orbit is the General’s best concept in a long time.

First of all, the Orbit is huge. While exact dimensions aren’t given, Buick says it’s over 19 feet long, so about the size of an extended-wheelbase Rolls-Royce Phantom. The wheels are 24-inchers, to give you an idea of proportion. There’s a good dash-to-axle ratio, but the hood isn’t very long, and the nose dramatically tapers to a point. Eschewing a traditional sedan or hatchback body style, the Orbit’s roofline extends far back, also coming to a point and creating a dramatic teardrop profile with a long rear overhang.

The Orbit has a nose kind of like one of those giant salamanders. It’s nicely sculpted, with prominent fenders creating a lower central hood section that has a thin trim piece running down the center. The headlights are three slim rectangles just above the nose’s crease, below which is a subtle cooling intake. There’s one crisp line along the midsection, but otherwise the Orbit’s surfacing is soft and unadorned, and the neutral metallic paint, aptly named Space, “reflects the hues of the universe, the vastness and mystery of outer space and seamlessly integrating with its environment to underscore Electra Orbit’s cosmic theme.” It seems like while the windows look pinched, the greenhouse is actually pretty airy.

At the back it really gets wild. It doesn’t even look like a car, more akin to a spaceship on Naboo in “The Phantom Menace.” Continuing on from that spear side detail, the Orbit’s rear end comes to a rocket-like tip. On the upper section there’s a raised belt with lights outlining the edge, and there are additional lights at the bottom of the diffuser. It’s awesome.

In an unexpected twist for Buick (and this sort of car in general), the Orbit concept has some pretty extreme active aerodynamics. A panel on each side of the hood opens to cool the brakes, the belt element on the rear end raises up to become a wing, and the front splitter, side skirts and rear bumper all lower and extend to increase downforce and high-speed efficiency. It’s like a starfighter entering attack mode.

Buick

The active aero isn’t the only dramatically motorized parts of the car. While no images of this were shown, Buick says it has “a dual, center-pivoting frunk [that] reveals a crafted storage area with custom luggage.” It adds that this feature is “an ode to the glamour and romance of travel,” and who doesn’t love glamour? I think EVs are genuinely a great way for automakers to get fun and experimental with storage space, especially when it comes to luxury cars. A huge sedan with a long hood that opens to reveal custom luggage? That really would rule.

The Orbit’s interior design is inspired by orbit in a literal sense. The whole dashboard is essentially a curved screen that Buick calls the Ring, the door panels and seats have a cocoon-like shape surrounding the occupants, and a line of light runs along the center of the roof, forming a C-shaped spine that bisects the rear seats and flows into the raised center console. Sitting at the top of the dash is a “wormhole-inspired” hologram that’s your AI assistant, and the gorgeous ball in the front center armrest acts as the physical controller for infotainment and vehicle functions.

Buick says the two-tone color scheme is called Ground, combining a clay-like red with a pearly weight. The seats have a fabulous brocade pattern, and there are lots of nice light elements, crystal trim pieces and fancy materials. A feature called the Digital Illusion Carpet “evokes the pulse of celestial elements,” though I’m not exactly sure what that means.

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But the best part about the Orbit’s interior is how you get into it. The front doors are Lamborghini-like front-hinged scissor doors, while the rear doors are also scissors, but rear-hinged ones. There’s no B-pillar, so having all four doors open gives the Orbit a totally unique silhouette and an incredible view of the inside. One of Buick’s renderings shows the doors shooting beams of light into the sky, which I really hope is an actual feature and not just an artist’s flourish.

The Buick Electra Orbit is obviously just a concept car meant to showcase where the brand could go in terms of design, but it wouldn’t be totally surprising if Buick starts pushing further upmarket in China. Domestic brands there are getting increasingly more design-forward and tech-laden while remaining affordable, and that applies to luxury models as well. Premium models like offerings from Xiaomi and Zeekr are beating Porsche and Mercedes at their own game, and Chinese automakers have made up the majority of total automaker sales in the country so far this year. But given its recent concepts and the aforementioned new production models, Buick could be in a position to stay competitive and maybe even enter new segments.

Regardless of what happens with Buick and its lineup, it’s clear that some of GM’s best designers are in China, which can only be good for the company’s global prospects. (But depending on how the tariffs continue, we may never get the fruits of their labor.) Stuart Norris, vice president of design for GM China and GM International, said “The Electra Orbit concept highlights the creativity and distinctive perspective of GM China’s design team. Rooted in local insights and driven by inventive exploration, the project demonstrates how bold forms, materials, and technologies can be executed in an authentic context.”

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