General Motors has launched the Buick Excelle GX in
China, a good looking compact wagon with a lot of style, and one could even
call it cool. Wagons in general are cool again in China.
There are fanatic wagon clubs, wagon-dedicated
websites, and most importantly: wagons are popular among youngsters who
consider themselves to be cool, and that is a hot market. Price starts at
119.900 yuan and ends at 146.900 yuan (US$ 18,400 – 22,230). The Excelle GX is
made in China by the Shanghai-GM joint venture.
The Excelle GX looks much better than the sedan,
which has been renamed ‘Excelle GT’. Sloping roof with roof rails, a shark fin antenna, a
small rear window and a black window spoiler.
The interior is a bit disappointing, it just doesn’t
look very 2017. The instrument panel is analog and the touch screen is a 7
inch, the smallest screen we have seen in a long time on a new car in China.
Chinese car buyers car for their screen’s size, so this could be a serious
flaw.
The graphics look very old fashioned. It seems
unlikely that this system was developed in China. It is probably based on a
GM-Europe product. There is a good thing: it runs both Apple CarPlay and Baidu
CarLife.
Engines are 1.0 turbo 3-pot with 125 hp (designated
15T) and an interesting 1.3 turbo 3-pot with 163 hp (designated 18T). The
latter is likely one of the largest 3-cylinders on the market today.
Transmission: 6-speed manual, 6-speed auto, 6-speed DCT.
