If Buick wants to change the way people think about it, this is a pretty good way to start.
The General Motors-owned brand unveiled a new EV concept called the Wildcat on Wednesday. The stylish coupé isn’t just one of the better-looking design prototypes we’ve seen this year, it’s also represents a dramatic departure for a marque that’s spent the last few years pumping out nondescript crossover SUVs.
The seductive two-door EV has a shape and flair unlike any other Buick in recent memory. From front to back, it’s got a trapezoidal grille, razor-sharp headlights, heavily sculpted sides, sloping roofline and blade-style taillights. Our favorite feature, though, are its semi-swing doors. Whenever you open one, a section of the roof pops up, making it easier to get in and out of the vehicle. You may also notice that the prototype is adorned with the company’s new simplified tri-color logo.
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This isn’t Buick’s first concept to bear the Wildcat name. In fact, the marque has been using it since as far back as the 1950s for innovative show cars that signaled an upcoming change in direction. That would seem to be the fate in store for the latest Wildcat, too. It’s unlikely the coupe will ever go into production, but the brand made clear that aspects of the concept’s design will start to filter out into its vehicles in the years to come.
“The Wildcat EV concept represents the real design future for the brand,” Sharon Gauci, executive director, Global Buick and GMC Design, said in a statement. “Buick has always been forward looking and this expression is a glimpse of where we’re going, and the optimism we have for the limitless possibilities of an electric future.”
Buick
The new concept wasn’t the only surprise to come from the brand on Wednesday. Buick also announced that it will only sell electric vehicles by the end of the decade. We won’t have to wait long, either. The brand’s first production EV—which could debut as soon as this summer—will go on sale in 2024. That car and the rest of the brand’s battery-powered vehicles will come out under the resurrected Electra name. Let’s hope its got more than a little of the Wildcat in its design as well.
Check out more photos of the Wildcat concept below:
Buick
Buick
Buick
Buick
