Buick Excelle GT - Motorshow Focus

Sits on a new, shorter platform.

The new Buick Excelle GT for the Chinese market was showcased at the 2015 Shanghai Auto Show last April. The sedan is manufactured by the Shanghai-GM joint venture.

The exterior is much sleeker and elegant than the previous car. The front gets a sharp and imposing waterfall grille, curvy headlamps with LED DRLs and a wide bumper grille that incorporates the slim LED fog lamps. The side profile is endowed with a strong character line that runs from the headlights to the tail lights. The new Excelle GT sits on a new platform and is actually smaller in size with dimensions of 4,587 mm, 1,798 mm and 1,463 mm in length, width and height respectively. Despite the reduction in length, the wheelbase is 2,640 mm.

The interior looks sporty unlike the exterior with red accents seen decorating the cabin. Even the leather seats feature red stitching while chrome also makes it presence felt. The shiny finish is seen on the AC vents, gear lever surround, door trim and the three-spoke multi-function steering wheel. The tiny infotainment screen is sandwiched between the AC vents on the dashboard.

There are two petrol engines that come with the new Excelle GT which are the 1.5-liter four cylinder and the 1.4-liter four cylinder turbocharged. The former pushes out 114 hp and 143 Nm through a 5-speed manual or 6-speed automatic with the latter producing 144 hp and 200 Nm of torque, while being coupled to a 7-speed DCT unit.