It was only a few years ago when it seemed as if Buick was going to die. GM's troubles were massive and Buick's appeal only satisfied those whose average age was 65. It was a sad, sad situation for such a great brand that had a wonderful history. But today is very different. GM is different, and Buick is making cars again that people who are decades away from retirement are actually interested in buying. One of those cars is the Encore.

Amazingly, that subcompact luxury crossover is red hot these days and Buick can't build enough of them to satisfy demand. A new report is claiming that Buick sold a total of 12,252 Encores in the first six months since it first went on sale in January. That's literally "triple or quadruple" what Buick initially predicted. By the end of last month, a grand total of 15,428 units were sold. Yep, GM totally underestimated US demand for the thing. And now there's an Encore shortage. Assembled in South Korea, production of the Encore will undoubtedly now move into overdrive, especially since the Audi Q3 and Mercedes GLA are set to arrive soon.