Why Did Buick Discontinue The Encore?

A few years ago, Buick got rid of one of its most popular models. The Encore was Buick's best-selling vehicle from 2015 to 2020, but in 2022, Buick announced that it would be the last year of the Encore. It was a sudden end to a subcompact SUV that had been around for nearly a decade. 

When the Encore came out in 2013, it was seen as a curious and unique vehicle that fulfilled America's desire for a smaller SUV that was still roomy, capable, and premium, while maintaining a low price point. It sold nearly 32,000 units in 2013, and that jumped to nearly 49,000 in 2014. Its best year in the United States was 2019 with over 102,000 sales, but this dropped to 41,700 in 2020. The subcompact SUV category has become quite competitive recently, and only the most popular tend to survive, including Buick's own Encore GX. 

When a popular vehicle is discontinued, more often than not, it's due to a lack of sales. The Encore is no different — while it most definitely had surprise success for its first six years, it had a massive drop in sales for its last few years, ultimately causing its run to come to an end. What led to its massive drop in sales from 2019 to 2020? That would be the launch of the Encore GX, which was released in 2020. 

The Encore GX was offered alongside the Encore in 2020, but it offered more space on the inside, as well as slightly different styling. It was also a little bigger, and it had more traditional SUV proportions, winning over American buyers. In 2020, Buick sold over 44,800 models, showing that buyers were split between the Encore and Encore GX its first year. In 2021, the GX jumped to over 71,000 while the Encore fell to slightly over 20,000. Americans made their decision: The Encore GX was a much-needed improvement, leaving the Encore feeling a bit redundant.

While it may have seemed sudden, sources like GM Authority claim that Buick may have been planning to discontinue the Encore for quite a while. According to their reports, General Motors planned to phase out the Encore after the Encore GX was introduced, noting that Buick had removed some of the Encore's trim levels as it built up the Encore GX instead. By 2021, the Encore only had two trims compared to the six it had back in 2018. With the Encore discontinued, GM planned to increase production of other models, such as the ever-popular Chevrolet Trailblazer. 

Even though its discontinuation was possibly planned, the Encore's initial success was not. GM's Vehicle Analysis Manager Ron Sessions told Edmunds that the South Korean-made Encore was initially seen as weird and awkward as GM attempted to figure out how to make fuel efficient cars. 

However, it ended up appealing to a large segment of American car buyers. "Buick was in a tailspin for years," Sessions explained. "The Encore was a chance to be first in a new segment, and it brought in customers that Buick might not have otherwise attracted." The original Encore may be gone now, but the Encore GX lives on, comfortable, reliable, and packed with new tech.