General Motors has filed to keep its trademark on the name Envoy, raising speculation it signals a resurrection of the once-popular GMC Envoy SUV.
GM has plans to bring other SUVs to market, including the two-row Blazer due out next year and the three-row 2020 Cadillac XT6. That fact makes it possible that GM intends to use the Envoy name on a GMC, or maybe a Buick vehicle, some analysts speculate. GM has tagged Buick SUVs with names that start with "En."
GM's Dec. 12 filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office offered little to unravel the mystery. In the filing, GM said the "Envoy" name would be used with a "sport utility vehicle, engines therefor, and structural parts thereof."
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GM is mum on its product plans, but when asked whether the trademark filing foreshadows a reintroduction of the GMC Envoy, a company spokesman stopped short of denying it.
"We trademark protect a variety of names for a variety of reasons," said Pat Morrissey, GM spokesman. "For competitive reasons we don't comment on potential uses for the names we protect."
Without speculating on why GM trademarked Envoy, Kelly Sexton, the University of Michigan's associate vice president for research, technology transfer and innovation partnerships, said: "Trademark applicants must either be using or have an intent to use the trademark in business."
The name Envoy hasn't appeared on a GM vehicle in a decade.
From 1998-2000, the Envoy SUV was GMC's version of the Chevrolet Trailblazer. In 2002, GMC reintroduced the Envoy and it remained in production for seven years until a sales slump killed it.
Cheap gas, SUV demand
A new Envoy would likely be based on a front-wheel-drive architecture similar to the Chevy Blazer, industry experts say. The Blazer and the GMC Acadia midsize SUV share a platform. GMC offers the Terrain, a compact crossover, and the mid-size Acadia, and the Yukon full-size SUV.
GM first eliminated the seven-passenger GMC Envoy XL in 2006. It discontinued the Chevy Trailblazer EXT SUV at that time too as gasoline prices inched toward $3 a gallon, stalling SUV sales. The standard, five-passenger Envoy and Trailblazer remained in production in the U.S. until 2009.
But with the U.S. average gasoline price now at $2.29 a gallon, consumer preferences have shifted from sedans to SUVs. GM said it will cut production of five sedans in 2019: Chevrolet Impala, Cruze and Volt, plus Buick LaCrosse and Cadillac CT6.
GM did show a new all-electric concept SUV called the Enspire earlier this year at the Beijing Auto Show. It also filed to trademark the Enspire name on Dec. 11.
Buick would not discuss plans for the Enspire beyond saying it “is an exploration of design and new technologies.”
Contact: Jamie L. LaReau: 313-222-2149 or jlareau@freepress.com
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