2025 Buick Enclave Loses 2 Cylinders, Gets Sport Touring Shortage

The all-new 2025 Buick Enclave will arrive in showrooms late this summer, capping an 18-month run that will see the entire lineup either refreshed or completely redesigned.
This third-generation Enclave is bigger, switches from V6 to four-cylinder power, gets new metallics, and will have a 30-inch screen inside.
The new interior definitely leans towards the premium side of the large crossover market, especially in the two-tone Avenir guise.

Remember when BMW regularly sold more than 100,000 3-Series sedans in the United States? It was several years ago now, when the market was turning to crossovers and SUVs. Last year, 3-Series sales fell short of the 34,000-unit mark in the United States.

And although there is no significant relationship between the 3-Series and the three-row Buick, the Enclave crossover. it is guilty of replacing such sedans and increasing their market share.

It’s no surprise, then, that the Enclave easily outsold the 3-series last year (with about 40,000 units) while also being a small player in a large crossover segment dominated by high-end players like the Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, and Chevy. Traverse (a platform-mate of the Enclave), which sold more than 100,000 units last year.

The story of the 3-Series also helps answer a question we still hear often: Why doesn’t Buick sell sedans anymore?

When it arrived as a 2007 model, the Enclave was Buick’s first legitimate sedan (unless you liked the Rendezvous), and its popularity eventually led to a lineup that is now number four, with the Enclave sitting above the Envision, Envista, and Encore GX.

Later this summer, the all-new 2025 Buick Enclave will arrive in showrooms, capping an 18-month run that will see Buick’s entire lineup refreshed or completely redesigned.

This third-generation Enclave—which shares its architecture with the Traverse and GMC Acadia and is assembled at General Motors’ Lansing Delta Township plant in Michigan—is larger, switches from V6 to four-cylinder power, gets new metallics, and will feature 30. -inch screen inside.

The trim levels have been reloaded, too. The ’24 Enclave trim started with the Essence ($46,690 base price with destination), then moved up to the Premium ($53,990 to start), then the Avenir ($60,290). The ’25 range will start with the Preferred, then move up to the new ST (Sport Touring aimed at younger customers), then the Avenir.

Pricing for the new Enclave will be closer to the sales launch later this summer. For clues, we can look at the new Traverse from the same platform, which now starts at $42,390 with destination. That’s a big jump from the previous Traverse, which started at $35,915.

Don’t worry about the V6 leaving; it only made 310 hp and 266 lb-ft of torque.

Overall, the new Enclave is longer, wider, and taller than the model it replaces.

From the profile, the general form looks largely unchanged, but looking at the Enclave from the front reveals a big difference: a wide, trapezoidal grille opening; thin, pointed lights that each resemble a crow’s beak; and a straight line running through the front, above the grille, representing a waterfall break.

This overall theme—the “New Face” of Buick, as the design team calls it—is already on display in the new Encore GX, Envista, and upcoming Envision. From the rear, the wrap-around tails jut out from the sides and on the sides is a redesigned Buick tri-shield badge for a clean, classy look.

Another major change comes under the hood, where the workhorse 3.6-liter V6 will be replaced by a turbo-charged 2.5-liter four-cylinder rated at 328 hp and 326 lb-ft of torque. Don’t worry about the V6 leaving; it only made 310 hp and 266 lb-ft.

All-wheel drive is optional on this front-wheel-drive Enclave, and the new powertrain includes an eight-speed automatic transmission, which replaces the nine-speed in the previous Enclave. Towing reduces 5000 lbs.

For most Enclave buyers, exterior styling and horsepower will be secondary to interior features, styling and amenities.

SEE THE PHOTOS

Tom Murphy

Two-tone interior on the 2025 Buick Enclave Avenir.

The new interior certainly leans toward the premium side of the larger crossover market, especially in the two-tone Avenir’s guise. In addition to black, you can choose off-white leather and light gray carpet, with royal blue trim on the steering wheel and on the upper instrument panel and doors. Another Avenir color combination replaces the blue trim with “mocca” brown.

Solid color interior options for Preferred and ST trim are black and gray.

But many common features are used in all three variants: curved glass 30-inch infotainment screen, wireless phone charging, noise cancellation, 126 interior colors, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, seven surround view cameras, power feel automatic. liftgate, heated first-row seats, and a Bose sound system.

Standard safety features are blind spot navigation assist, automatic intersection emergency braking, traffic sign recognition, lane departure warning and lane control assist. GM’s Super Cruise hands-free driving technology is available on all three trims, with automatic lane-changing capabilities.

The more you spend, the more you get. Preferred and ST trims get a 12-speaker Bose sound system, while the Avenir gets 16. Standard 20-inch rims (in different styles) appear on the Preferred and ST trims, while the Avenir gets 22-inch pearl nickel wheels.

The third-row seats fold manually in two lower positions, but the Avenir comes with standard power controls to fold the second-row seats and raise or lower the third-row seats.

The Enclave Avenir also gets a sunroof, rain-sensing windshield wipers, ventilated and heated front seats, heated second-row outboard seats, and advanced climate control for a smooth ride.

The Sport Touring model has high-gloss black exterior trim and machine-faced wheels, along with a flat-bottom steering wheel.

Buick executives wouldn’t share projected sales for the new model or trim combination, but say more than 25% of Enclave customers have been choosing the top-of-the-line Avenir.

Do you think the Enclave is correct? buick flagship, or could the production version of the Wildcat EV just fill that role? Please comment below.

Tom joined Autoweek in 2022 after nearly 25 years as an editor at WardsAuto, and 10 years as a columnist for the daily newspaper before that. He has been in metro Detroit all his life. His personal cars have been quite practical, and he’s happy to pay them off and enjoy several years of debt-free driving. The trickery of COVID prompted him to buy a 1953 Packard Patrician, in honor of his grandfather, who worked at the Packard factory until production ceased in the mid-1950s.

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