It is expected that this year General Motors will stop production of two small crossovers, which were once among the best-selling: Buick Encore and Chevrolet Trax.
GM Production of both crossovers built in South Korea will stop in August, said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions.
The GM Authority has announced the completion of production earlier.
Both crossovers overlap with slightly larger siblings in the subcompact segment: Buick Encore GX and Chevy Trailblazerwhich went on sale in 2020.
“Instead of upgrading the small crossovers, GM has gone even further and eliminated the shortcomings of these popular models,” Fiorani said. “With their longer wheelbase, the Encore GX and Trailblazer have more space for the rear seats and more cargo space in a package that’s just a few inches longer.”
GM spokeswoman Kelly Van Maele did not directly confirm the end of the release of Trax and Encore.
According to her, Chevy will continue to sell five crossovers, and Buick – four.
“Other than that, we can’t confirm plans for the future of the product at this time.”
Trax sales in the U.S. fell 60 percent to 42,590 last year, while Trailblazer’s volume more than doubled to 90,161, according to the Automotive News Research & Data Center.
Deliveries to Encore in the U.S. fell 52 percent to 20,072, while Encore GX rose 59 percent to 71,247.
Sales of both Trax and Encore peaked at more than 100,000 in 2019, when Trax finished second and Encore third in the small crossover segment, behind the best-selling Subaru Crosstrek.
Trax and Encore went on sale in the US in 2013 and for several years held high positions in the segment. Trax remained in the top four until last year, when Trailblazer became № 3 and surpassed Trax by more than 47,000 vehicles.
Encore was in the top four until 2020, when the Encore GX debuted. Encore was the best-selling Buick sign from 2015 to 2020, when the Encore GX surpassed its predecessor by about 3,000. In 2021, the GX was ahead of the Encore by more than 50,000 vehicles.
