The Buick Excelle () is the common name for the

subcompact car Subcompact car is a North American classification for cars smaller than a compact car. It is broadly equivalent to the B-segment (Europe), supermini (Great Britain) or A0-class (China) classifications. According to the U.S. Environmental Pr ...

s marketed by Shanghai General Motors Company Limited () under GM's

Buick Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...

brand. It is classified as a compact in china, but by international standards it is a subcompact car. The original Buick Excelle (Chinese "Kai Yue") is based on the Daewoo Lacetti developed in South Korea by

Daewoo Motors Daewoo Motors ( ) was a South Korean automotive company established in 1937 as "National Motors". The company changed its name several times until 1982 when it became "Daewoo Motors" following its acquisition by the Daewoo Group. After running i ...

. While this car was originally sold worldwide under the

Daewoo Daewoo ( ; Hangul: , Hanja: , ; literally "great universe" and a portmanteau of "dae" meaning great, and the given name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-choong) also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean chaebol (type of conglomerat ...

brand, in 2004,

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

rebranded all Daewoo products in Europe as

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ou ...

s. Parallel to the Lacetti-based Excelle, Shanghai GM introduced a new car called the

Buick Excelle GT The Buick Excelle GT () is the name for the compact car manufactured by SAIC-GM under GM's Buick brand. The original Buick Excelle () was based on the Daewoo Lacetti developed by Daewoo Motors. Parallel to the Lacetti-based Excelle, Shanghai ...

in China, but called "Ying Lang" in Chinese. It is based on GM's global compact car platform "Delta II" which is developed at Rüsselsheim in

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Grou ...

's International Technical Development Center (ITDC). The

Chevrolet Cruze The Chevrolet Cruze is a compact car that is produced by General Motors since 2008. It was designated as a globally developed, designed, and manufactured four-door compact sedan, complemented by a five-door hatchback body variant from 2011, and ...

is based on this same platform. Since the 2009 economic crises and the subsequent demise of the Saturn brand and reduction of GM's North American brands to four, the Opel models are aligned no longer with the Saturn brand, but the Buick brand. Consequently, the models built and marketed by Buick China are twins of the Opel variants of GM's global platforms while the Lacetti-based Excelle was re-positioned below Buick's newer offerings in the Chinese market. In China, a

hatchback A hatchback is a car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to a cargo area. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second row seating, where the interior can be reconfigured to prioritize passenger or cargo volume. ...

called the

Buick Excelle XT Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...

debuted in 2009, which is essentially a rebadged Astra J (2009–present). A sedan debuted in 2010 called the

(). An estate car based on the second generation Buick Excelle GT debuted in 2018 called the Buick Excelle GX. In August 2016, Buick decided to end Excelle production despite strong sales, with 2.68 million units sold over the course of 13 years. Citing its low price while the brand moves upmarket as a main reason, there will be no direct successor, with

and Wuling filling in the low-end market niche left unoccupied by the departure of the Excelle. In June 2018, Buick launched the second generation of the Buick Excelle. Positioning under the Excelle GT, the second generation Excelle was based on a new platform and stand as a completely new model.

First generation (J200; 2003)

The first generation was available in a sedan or

wagon A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...

and Excelle HRV (

) and was a rebadged Daewoo Lacetti. The HRV and wagon were produced from 2005 to 2009 while the sedan continued to produced locally in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

from April 2003 to August 2016. The model year 2008 received a facelift consisting of a new front fascia, new rear end design and updated interior. The facelift was partly inspired by the Buick Park Avenue, and the front light units and bumpers were redesigned while the front fenders remain the same units. A second facelift consisting of a new grille was released in 2013. A 1.6 litre engine was standard under the trim level LX until 2013 where a 1.5 litre engine replaced it. The new trim levels were 1.5 MT Classical, 1.5 MT Premium, 1.5 AT Classical and 1.5 AT Premium. Pricing was between 96,900 yuan to 118,900 yuan throughout its production run. File:Buick Excelle China 2012-06-17.JPG, Buick Excelle front (pre-facelift) File:Buick Excelle 02 China 2012-05-27.JPG, Buick Excelle rear (pre-facelift) File:Buick Excelle facelift 01 China 2012-04-28.JPG, Buick Excelle front (facelift) File:Buick Excelle facelift 02 China 2012-04-22.JPG, Buick Excelle rear (facelift) File:Buick Excelle HRV China 2012-04-15.JPG, Buick Excelle HRV File:Buick Excelle HRV China 2012-04-14.JPG, Buick Excelle HRV rear File:Buick Excelle Wagon 01 China 2012-04-29.JPG, Buick Excelle Wagon front File:Buick Excelle Wagon 02 China 2012-04-29.JPG, Buick Excelle Wagon rear

Taiwan

In the Taiwanese market,

Yulon Motors Yulon Motor Co., Ltd. () is a Taiwanese automaker and importer. Taiwan's biggest automaker as of 2010, Yulon is known for building Nissan models under license. The original romanization of the company's name is Yue Loong, but in 1992 the compan ...

, being the manufacturer and distributor of GM products in Taiwan, introduced a redesigned Buick Excelle produced and sold exclusively in Taiwan starting from 2007. The Taiwanese version consists of a completely different front fascia compared to the version sold in mainland China while the rear is still similar to the

Chevrolet Optra The Chevrolet Optra is an automotive nameplate used by the Chevrolet marque for two different compact car models, in the following markets: *Daewoo Lacetti (2004–2013), in markets such as Colombia, Canada, Mexico, Japan and Southeast Asia *B ...

, Daewoo Lacetti, and

Suzuki Forenza Forenza ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, Basilicata, southern Italy. It is bounded by the comuni of Acerenza, Avigliano, Filiano, Ginestra, Maschito, Palazzo San Gervasio Palazzo San Gervasio ( Lucano: ) is ...

sedans with only the inner taillamp setup being redesigned. File:Buick Excelle (Taiwan).jpg, Taiwanese market Buick Excelle File:Buick Excelle - 14622209910.jpg, Taiwanese market Buick Excelle rear

Second generation (2018)

The second generation Buick Excelle was available in the Chinese market on June 22, 2018, based on the cancelled Opel Corsa F (G2J0) which was cancelled due to Opel being sold to the

PSA Group The PSA Group (), legally known as Peugeot S.A. (Peugeot Société Anonyme, trading as Groupe PSA; formerly known as PSA Peugeot Citroën from 1991 to 2016) was a French multinational automotive manufacturing company which produced automobiles ...

. Based on the all new GEM platform, the second generation Buick Excelle is powered by a new 1.3 liter, dual-injection inline-3 engine producing and torque. Transmission options include a 6-speed manual and a CVT.

References

External links

* {{GM Korea Front-wheel-drive vehicles 2010s cars Excelle Cars of China