Buick GL8 Minivan Is Sold Only in China, Unlike the Rendezvous and Skyhawk

The Buick GL8 has never been sold in America, though its first generation closely resembled the GM minivans that North American buyers knew under many nameplates. It is built by SAIC-GM, the joint venture between SAIC Motor and General Motors, and sold only in China. Three Buicks make an odd but instructive set: the GL8, the Rendezvous crossover that shared its underpinnings and the Skyhawk hatchback, the smallest car to carry a Buick badge in more than 60 years.

Buick GL8: the minivan Buick builds only for China

The GL8 was introduced in 1999. The first generation was built on GM's U-body platform, which the Buick Rendezvous and the Pontiac Aztek also used. Since then it has grown into a family of generations: a first generation until 2016, a second generation sold as the Legacy until February 2025, a third generation called the GL8 ES and Avenir from 2016 and a fourth, the Century, from 2022. For a time in 2022 three generations were on sale together.

A minivan sold only in China, a crossover with a minivan's bones and the smallest Buick in 60 years.

First-generation GL8, First Land and the Chevrolet Venture

Production started in China in December 1999 with five trims, the LT, CT1, CT2, CT3 and GT, the last of which was exclusive to the long-wheelbase GL8 First Land. The regular car was known as the GL8 2.5. Prices ranged from 218,000 to 318,000 yuan (US$31,920 to US$46,570). Engines were a 2.4-litre four in the Business Edition, a 2.5-litre V6 in the GL8 2.5 and a 3.0-litre V6 in the First Land.

From October 2001 the GL8 went to the Philippines as the Chevrolet Venture, offered as a 10-seater until 2005. Reviews and sales were lukewarm, build quality was weak, and owners were frustrated by a patchy parts supply. Local rivals such as the Hyundai Starex and Kia Carnival had better build quality. The Venture stayed on sale until 2006, with leftover units sold into 2007. It was one of two rebadged Chinese Buicks sold in the Philippines; the other was the Regal-based Chevrolet Lumina, and both came from Shanghai GM.

The first facelift came in 2005 for the 2006 model year, with a new front end and simplified cladding, and it was joined by the First Land, which had its own nose and clear taillights. A second facelift followed for 2010, and the first generation ended in 2016.

A far more unusual GL8 appeared in 2001. The Phoenix hybrid prototype, a joint project of GM and SAIC, used a 35 kW fuel cell and compressed hydrogen gas, and was unveiled at the Pan Asia Automotive Technology Center in China.

Second-generation GL8 Legacy

The second generation arrived in 2010 for the 2011 model year with styling inspired by the Buick Business concept shown in 2009 and a sharp dip in the beltline. Its wheelbase of 3,099 mm (122 in) matched the First Land, and the Pan-Asia Technical Automotive Center developed it on an architecture more than a decade old. Buyers could choose a 2.4-litre Ecotec four or a 3.0-litre V6 with a six-speed automatic. To tell it from the car it succeeded, which stayed on sale as the "Business Edition", this one was sold as the "Luxury Business Edition".

The third generation went on sale in November 2016, and the second generation was briefly withdrawn. In March 2017 it came back, replacing the first generation, with fresh styling as the "Business Traveler", known internally as the GL8 Legacy. The 3.0-litre V6 was cancelled in favour of a 2.5-litre Ecotec, and a 2.0-litre turbo joined in late 2018, becoming the only engine after the 2.5 was dropped in mid-2019. A May 2020 facelift, sold as the "Legacy" or "Land Business Class", had one 652T trim, a 2.0-litre turbo and a 9-speed Hydramatic automatic. Twelve models were priced from 232,900 to 529,900 yuan (US$33,320 to US$75,820). In 2022 the engine became the LXH, a mild hybrid with a 48V system that meets China 6b emissions standards. Production ended in February 2025, after 15 years, with the closure of the SAIC-GM Norsom plant.

GL8 ES and Avenir: the third generation

The third generation debuted in October 2016 as the GL8 ES, with Avenir for the top trim. It received Buick's winged grille, a new roofline and a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine of 253 hp (189 kW; 257 PS) across the range. An updated version of the same platform replaced the earlier torsion-beam rear suspension with an independent set-up.

The GL8 Avenir concept at the 2019 Shanghai Auto Show led to a facelift revealed in March 2020. Four-seat (Avenir only), six-seat (Avenir only) and seven-seat layouts are offered. The car gained a 12.3-inch display, eConnect 3.0 connectivity and a head-up display, and a 2.0-litre turbo with a 9-speed automatic badged 653T, which gained a 48-volt mild hybrid system in mid-2021. Another facelift in 2022 brought the LXH engine.

GL8 Lu Zun and Lu Shang plug-in hybrids

In April 2024 the GL8 Lu Zun PHEV appeared on "Buick Brand Day" to replace the Avenir trim. Its Zhenlong plug-in system combines a drive unit developed in-house by the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center, a 24.4 kWh LFP Ultium battery, a 1.5-litre turbo engine using a deep Miller cycle for 127 kW (170 hp; 173 PS) and a 74 kW (99 hp; 101 PS) motor on the front wheels. Electric range is 138 km (86 mi) on the CLTC cycle and the combined range reaches 1,370 km (850 mi). A mild hybrid Lu Zun with a different grille followed in October 2024.

In July 2025 the Lu Zun PHEV, now named Zhenlong Pro, was upgraded to a 34.8 kWh NMC pack with 202 km (126 mi) of CLTC range. Buick says it handles 5C peak charging and charges from 30 to 80 percent in 15 minutes, and higher versions take Avenir badging with an L2 driver-assistance system, automatic parking and a head-up display.

The cheaper GL8 Lu Shang was previewed in March 2025 and launched on 11 April as a plug-in; the mild hybrid followed on 26 June. With the Legacy gone, it became the entry point below the Lu Zun and the Century. The Lu Shang PHEV produces 392 hp (292 kW; 397 PS) from a 1.5-litre turbo, two motors and a two-speed hybrid transmission, with a 24.4 kWh LFP battery good for 142 km (88 mi) on the CLTC cycle and a combined range of 1,420 km (880 mi). A cheaper mild hybrid with several features removed appeared in late 2025.

Buick Century: the four-seat flagship GL8

SAIC-GM introduced the Buick Century in August 2022, previewed by the GL8 Flagship Concept, and put it on sale in November. It is the first Buick to adopt the "Pure Design" philosophy and the first production model to wear Buick's new emblem. Up front are shark-nose styling, a big trapezoid grille and dual-direction headlights, with full-width taillights behind. The Century comes as the 6-seat Avenir and the 4-seat Flagship, and a 7-seat base model followed on 19 August 2023. Like the earlier GL8s, it is sold exclusively in China.

The Flagship is the showpiece. A divider behind the front seats carries a 32-inch screen flanked by Bose speakers, with storage drawers beneath. The heated captain's chairs are in Nappa leather with 18-way power adjustment, ottomans and Bose speakers in the headrests, and an 8-inch touchscreen controls the infotainment and the seats. A 21-speaker Bose Executive Edition system, 5G connectivity, Apple CarPlay and Baidu CarLife complete the equipment, under a starry-sky headliner comparable to the Starlight Headliner in a Rolls-Royce.

Buick Rendezvous: the crossover with a minivan platform

The Buick Rendezvous is a mid-size crossover sold for the 2002 to 2007 model years. It debuted at the Chicago Auto Show in February 2000, and sales began in spring 2001. With the Pontiac Aztek it was one of GM's first entries in the crossover segment. It came with a four-speed automatic and a V6, with optional all-wheel drive called Versatrak, and rode on the short-wheelbase platform of the Chevrolet Venture and Pontiac Montana, at 112 inches. It was Buick's first truck-based vehicle since 1923, and it offered carrying capacity the brand had not had since the Roadmaster Estate wagon was dropped in 1996.

Buick billed it as the best of a minivan (large cargo space, seating for up to seven), a luxury car (ride and refinement) and an SUV (truck styling, available all-wheel drive). The factory at Ramos Arizpe in Mexico built it on the line it shared with the Aztek.

Versatrak is a full-time, fully automatic all-wheel-drive system. Instead of the viscous couplings common elsewhere it uses hydraulic gerotor pumps and multi-plate clutch packs, and Steyr-Daimler-Puch supplies it under licence from McLaren Traction Technologies. Buick used its Park Avenue sedan as the ride and handling benchmark, so every Rendezvous has a fully independent rear suspension with aluminium-alloy control arms and rear solid disc brakes.

Teal-lit needles and numbers on a silver face were meant to look like an expensive watch. The CXL had a driver information centre with a trip computer, and a second-generation head-up display and tyre-pressure monitoring were optional. With a third-row bench it carried seven people and could swallow a 4-by-8-foot (1.2 m by 2.4 m) sheet of plywood. The centre console had storage and power points for a laptop. The IIHS rated the frontal offset crash performance as Acceptable overall and did not run a side-impact test.

Buick Rendezvous model years 2002 to 2007

The 2002 range had CX and CXL trims, with front-wheel drive on the CX only, and five-seat layouts as standard. The CX Plus and CXL Plus arrived for 2003, along with an optional overhead DVD system. For 2004 a 3.6-litre DOHC V6 with variable valve timing became available on all-wheel-drive CXL models, and the Ultra became the top model with 17-inch wheels, the 3.6 V6 and standard all-wheel drive. The Ultra was offered in front-wheel drive from 2005. For 2006 the CXL Plus replaced it, QuietTuning sound deadening became standard and a 3.5-litre V6 replaced the 3.4. The last model year, 2007, was front-wheel drive with the 3.5 V6 only, and it dropped the cassette player.

Buick Skyhawk: the smallest Buick

The Skyhawk was built for the 1975 through 1989 model years in two generations. The first, a subcompact four-passenger hatchback introduced in September 1974, used the rear-drive H-body platform. It was a badge-engineered version of the Chevrolet Monza, itself based on the Chevrolet Vega, and it was sold alongside the Oldsmobile Starfire and Pontiac Sunbird. It had a 97.0-inch (2,460 mm) wheelbase, was 65.4 inches (1,660 mm) wide, and was among the first cars with quad rectangular headlamps. The shape has been compared to the Ferrari 365 GTC/4. Its rivals included the Toyota Celica, Datsun 200SX, VW Scirocco, Mercury Capri and Ford Mustang II.

Every first-generation car had Buick's 3.8-litre (231 cid) V6 with a two-barrel carburettor, rated at 110 hp (82 kW) at 4000 rpm, with a four-speed manual standard and a three-speed automatic optional. A live rear axle was used. A mid-1975 Skyhawk S undercut the main model on price, and 1976 brought a five-speed manual, vented front rotors and the Astroroof, a tinted glass roof with a wide aluminium band; a plain sliding sunroof followed in 1977. A 1979 facelift fitted single rectangular headlamps and added a "Road Hawk" handling package.

It never matched the sales of the Monza and Sunbird, perhaps because small sporty coupes looked out of place in a Buick showroom. Production was stopped on 21 December 1979 to free capacity, after 125,311 cars in six model years.

The second-generation Skyhawk of 1982 to 1989 was a front-drive J-body, first seen in Chicago that February, and built alongside the Chevrolet Cavalier, Cadillac Cimarron, Oldsmobile Firenza and Pontiac J2000 and Sunbird. It came about because of recession, fuel economy rules and a shift away from large luxury sedans to small cars with luxury touches such as power windows and air conditioning. A 1982 Limited sedan cost $7,931 ($26,459 in 2025 dollars). Engines began with a 1.8-litre carburetted four of 88 hp, a 2.0-litre joined soon after, and 1983 brought Buick's first front-drive station wagon.

The performance version was the turbocharged T-Type of 1984, with 150 hp (112 kW) and 150 lb ft (203 N m) from a Garrett T25 turbocharger and a Gran Touring suspension; the option cost $800 ($2,479 in 2025 dollars). Production set a record of 134,076 cars in 1984. A 165 hp (123 kW) turbo engine arrived in 1987 alongside a 96 hp (71 kW) overhead-cam two-litre. By 1989 only a 90 hp pushrod two-litre remained, and 23,366 of that last year were built, within a second-generation total of 529,564. The Skyhawk was the last Buick offered with a manual gearbox until the 2011 Regal Turbo, which was based on the Opel Insignia.

Buick GL8, Rendezvous and Skyhawk side by side