Buick could drop last cars from lineup

Is that a new Buick? If it's a car, probably not.

Buick accelerated its move away from traditional cars to crossovers in the past year by dropping the short-lived Cascada convertible and once-flagship LaCrosse large sedan from its U.S. lineup.

That trend may continue as the fate of the Regal Sportback and Regal TourX wagon, produced by the Opel unit that General Motors sold in 2017, is determined. Those models, which were previously expected to be freshened for the U.S. as early as next year, may be dropped from the U.S. instead.

The brand's newer crossovers are planned to be updated by the end of 2021, but Buick's best-selling Encore subcompact, which was freshened three years ago, is expected to remain unchanged for the foreseeable future. Instead, the brand's focus will be the compact Encore GX that's scheduled to go on sale early next year.

Buick, despite expectations of launching several all-electric vehicles in China in the coming years, may not get its first EV for the U.S. until at least 2022 or 2023.

Regal: The repositioning of the Opel-derived midsize sedan as a fastback and wagon in 2018 initially did well for Buick, but the future of both models in the U.S. is uncertain. GM has a purchase contract with Opel for them, though lackluster sales — down 22 percent this year through June — and a cut in production at the German plant that makes the Regal could have Buick cutting the nameplate sooner rather than later.

Encore: The current-generation subcompact crossover is expected to be sold alongside the larger Encore GX for the foreseeable future. The U.S. will not receive the redesigned version that was unveiled for China and other global markets this year but will need either a new generation of the vehicle or a replacement around 2022.

Encore GX: Other than its name, the compact crossover shares little with its smaller counterpart. The Encore GX sits on a different platform from the Encore and is being produced at a separate plant in South Korea. The vehicle, when it arrives stateside early next year, will have nearly 5 cubic feet more cargo space than the Encore and about 3 cubic feet less than the Envision.

Envision: The Trump administration's tariffs on vehicles imported from China have put the compact crossover's future in the U.S. in question, but the nameplate is expected to continue for Buick. A redesign is expected in 2021. Reports of a name change or a new Enspire crossover replacing the Envision are unfounded. Sales this year through June were flat from a year ago.

Enclave: A redesign of the large crossover for the 2018 model year and the addition of an Avenir trim have proved successful. Sales increased 2.2 percent last year to nearly 50,000 vehicles and rose 24 percent in the first half of 2019. To keep the momentum going, Buick will freshen the vehicle in late 2020 — earlier than previously expected. The update could include a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine that also is being added to the 2020 GMC Acadia.

Electric vehicle: The name Enspire could be used for an all-electric vehicle for the U.S., as early as 2022 or 2023, but the vehicle likely would appear first in China. Buick debuted a well-received Enspire concept at last year's Beijing auto show that featured a 370-mile range and 0-to-60-mph performance of four seconds.