There’s a hole in Buick’s line-up right now, one that its dealers have been waiting for the brand to deal with for quite some time.

Chances are they will finally have their way, too, though they should keep in mind a Chinese proverb that says “be careful what you wish for, because you might actually get it”.

The aforementioned gap is the one that exists between the compact Encore and the much larger, eight-seater Enclave. It’s not that GM would have to develop something from scratch, either.

So why is it that, at a time of booming SUV sales, it has left Buick out in the cold in this segment?

Well, here’s the issue: said model actually exists, it’s called the Envision and it’s doing very well in terms of sales, thank you very much. It’s just that it’s manufactured and sold, exclusively in China, a market with a huge appetite for SUVs that soaked up 57,413 units of the Envision in the first half of the year.

If the idea of a Chinese-made car being sold in the US sounds unlikely, consider first that the Envision is anything but outdated. It was developed in GM’s technical center in Detroit and it’s the first to use the group’s new global platform, which will also underpin the Chevy Equinox replacement.

Launched in 2014 with a sole engine, a 2.0-liter, earlier this year its range grew with a new version powered by a 166 bhp (170 PS) 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that’s mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. It also comes in front- and all-wheel-drive versions. Not bad in terms of technology or specs, is it?

“Clearly, it is a very nicely designed and executed program that is very much a Buick”, the brand’s global chief Duncan Aldred said last year. He also went one step further, conceding that it would very well fit in “a big segment in the US”, though he didn’t divulge any plans to import it. Nevertheless, analysts from both IHS and LMC Automotive expect the Envision to be launched in the US during the second half of 2016 and forecast annual sales from the mid-20,000s to the high-30,000s.

“For the U.S. consumer experience, there is likely to be little difference between a Buick built at GM’s Orion Assembly plant or in Shanghai,” IHS’ Stephanie Brinley says, pointing out that people have no problem buying there Cupertino-developed, China-made iPhones in droves for many years now.

Unlike Apple, though, GM will have to resolve a couple of issues before it launches the Envision. The first is that it will have to increase its Shanghai plant’s output by 20 percent in order to account for the added sales. The second, and probably much more difficult, is to convince the UAW leaders, with whom it is currently negotiating over the next contract, to accept the concept of importing cars from China.

Story reference: Autonews

Photo Gallery