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- Buick reveals Century luxury minivan for the Chinese market, offered in four- and six-passenger versions.
- The minivan boasts a 32-inch screen built into the powered limousine window partition, among other luxury features.
- The Buick brand has a loyal following in China and offers a more varied lineup in the country than it does stateside, having relaunched in China in the late 1990s.
You may get a certain mental image when you hear the words "Buick Century," but we're betting it doesn't look like this. But this is indeed a Buick Century, albeit one destined for the Middle Kingdom, and it's more of a private jet for the road than a vehicle for the school run.
Of course, Buick minivans are nothing new. GM has offered them in China dating back almost two decades, with the Buick GL8 being one of the segment leaders since its introduction in 1999 as a naff carbon copy of the Chevy Venture.
Fast forward 20 years, and Buick's minivans have evolved into something resembling a rolling cineplex with reclining, massaging seats, a center console with a touchscreen, and Nappa leather surfaces.
Passenger count is not the main priority, as you've probably noted by now, with the four-seat version offering the greatest amount of space for rear passengers, who will have more room than in a first-class airplane cabin. And they'll have a view of the sky as well, in the form of hundreds of tiny LED lights built into the headliner, like in a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
The in-flight infotainment comes through 16 speakers for the passenger compartment alone, plus a 32-inch screen stretching between the B-pillars, forming a limousine-style powered partition that can be lowered and raised. And just like on your trans-Atlantic flight, refreshments can be stored in an on-board refrigerator. There's even a button to talk to the driver, as if summoning a flight attendant.
The amenities of such a luxury yacht for the road might lead one to expect something potent underhood, but the Century actually relies on a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine teamed up in a 48-volt mild-hybrid setup with a nine-speed automatic.
But then again, it's not going to set any speed records in China's congested cities as it ferries passengers to the office.
This luxury doesn't come cheap, with prices starting at just over $74,000. This is a niche segment that exists largely in Asia and to some extent in Europe, but certainly not in North America, where minivans have given up considerable ground to well-appointed SUVs over the past two decades.
But beyond just the segment itself, the Buick brand in China has a vast lineup that now dwarfs its presence in the US, where the brand sells only three crossovers. Buick has nothing to worry about in China when it comes to sales, but the same is perhaps no longer true in the home market.
Should Buick offer something like this in the US, as an extension of its all-crossover lineup? Let us know in the comments below.
Jay Ramey grew up around very strange European cars, and instead of seeking out something reliable and comfortable for his own personal use he has been drawn to the more adventurous side of the dependability spectrum. Despite being followed around by French cars for the past decade, he has somehow been able to avoid Citroën ownership, judging them too commonplace, and is currently looking at cars from the former Czechoslovakia. Jay has been with Autoweek since 2013.
