Teasing new models through social media venues is all the rage this year and General Motors got in on the “striptease” act yesterday when they posted a close up picture of the new 2013 Buick Encore CUV on the official Buick Facebook page – promising to offer more pictures as they near the 2012 Detroit Auto Show debut of the new Buick crossover.
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GM hasn’t offered much information on the 2013 Buick Encore yet, but what we do know is that this new midsized CUV will offer seating for 5, so it is small enough to not fit a third row of seating. There is no mention of shared underpinnings with other GM models but from the looks and sounds of things, the Encore will be based on the current Chevrolet Equinox. However, showing that they will not make the mistakes of the past - simply rebadging a Chevy and calling it a Buick – we can expect the Encore to have a look and feel of its own.
First off, from what we can see in this first teaser image of the 2013 Buick Encore, the new CUV has a very “Buick shaped” front end. The hard lines on the outer edges of the hood are similar to what we see on the popular LaCrosse right down to the hood “vents” and the headlight design is similar in layout to what Buick has gone with on the compact Verano, including the blue projection style low beam assembly. This first image also shows a sporty looking black-chrome grille sporting a spread of angular, vertical bars and integrated into the headlight assembly is a flat black vent…although it’s unclear whether it is functional and if it is – where the air from this vent goes. It certainly seems a little too high to feed the braking system so we can presume that it aides in cooling.
We can also expect that the 2013 Buick Encore will get a fair amount of “dressing up” inside compared to the Chevrolet Equinox. The modern Buick lineup has taken an upscale approach to interior design, essentially offering interior quality and amenities that rivals the entry level Cadillac models – offering buyers a chance to enjoy a bit of American luxury without the high price. Features like real wood trim, satin finishes, plush leather seating appointments and a state of the art infotainment system are likely to be available – if not standard.
The official Buick Facebook page has promised to offer up a full picture of the 2013 Encore in the coming weeks with the formal debut for the new Buick CUV set for January 10th at the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. It will be interesting to see if GM shows some more teaser shots ahead of the full picture being posted but in any case, TorqueNews will continue following this story – bringing you any updates as they become available!
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