Buick is Reportedly Plotting the Verano’s Death

Every automaker has felt the shift from sedans to crossovers and SUVs, but Buick has seen a disproportionately large shift. It’s this shift in demand that has resulted in the brand looking at its lineup and seeing where it can trim off some fat to maximize its volume. Today, a report from Automotive News claims that said fat could be the Verano compact sedan.

This report comes from unnamed “sources,” and I always suggest taking these with a grain of salt. Regardless, the source claims that the brand has no plans to bring the recently-redesigned-for-China Verano to the U.S. as it will likely eliminate the model after the 2017 run. The underlying reason for its being cut is the aforementioned shift to crossovers.

On the surface, this makes sense as Buick has seen its crossover volume jump from 31 percent of its overall sales in 2012 to 58 percent in 2015. What’s more, experts estimate that the release of the upcoming Envision compact crossover will jump crossovers to a whopping 68 percent of Buick sales by 2017.

While those numbers are pretty telling and it makes perfect sense as to why Buick would make this shift, but there is one unstable variable in there. You see, many experts peg the sudden jump in crossover sales on falling gas prices, but we all know that gas prices will not remain this low for too long—we’ve already seen premium leap up to around $3 per gallon again because of increased demand. Chances are, by 2017, regular fuel will be back around $3 per gallon again, and buyers will be looking to offload their crossovers and get back into small sedans like the Verano.

Only time will tell whether or not Buick follows through with the killing of the Verano, but my gut tells me that if gas prices shoot back up, it will scrap this plan. Stay tuned for more details.