Buick's first electric vehicle in Canada will have to wait
General Motors is one of a growing number of automakers revising their electric vehicle plans in response to a sharp slowdown in demand growth, particularly in North America.
In the last few days, CEO Mary Barra has confirmed that electric pickup production at the Orion plant in Michigan (which assembled the Chevrolet Bolt EV until December 2023) has been pushed back by about six months. It is now expected to start in mid-2026, barring further changes.
The same plant is also to manufacture Buick's first electric model for the North American market, which has yet to be unveiled. In short, patience will be required for longer than expected.
As an SUV, the production model could - and we do mean “could” - be based on the spectacular Wildcat EV concept (above), first presented in June 2022 and then at the Montreal Auto Show in January 2023. One thing's for sure, it will be based on GM's Ultium platform, like several others, including the Chevrolet Blazer EV and Equinox EV, as well as the Cadillac Lyriq and Optiq.
This will be a different vehicle from the Buick Electra E5 (included in the photo gallery), Electra E4 and Velite 6 marketed in China, as importing either to our continent is out of the question given the 102.5% tariffs imposed by the USA on Chinese-built electric vehicles.
