2022 Chevy Trailblazer and Buick Encore GX $200 more expensive

The Chevrolet Trax and its premium platform-mate the Buick Encore are reportedly headed to the great dealership in the sky at the end of this model year. Assuming things go down like that, the Chevrolet Trailblazer and its premium platform-mate the Buick Encore GX will become the new entry-level crossovers for their respective brands. According to reports in GM Authority — the same source of the Trax and Encore retirement rumors — the entry-level bars at Chevy and Buick are $200 more expensive across all trims.

The front-wheel drive 2022 Trailblazer LS now begins at $22,195 after the $1,195 destination fee, keeping its MSRP slightly under competitors like the Hyundai Kona and Mazda CX-30.

The front-wheel drive 2022 Encore GX now starts at $27,340 after the same destination fee. The Buick's premium aspirations and price put it into suboptimal spot on the MSRP chart against the same competition as the Trailblazer, those other subcompact CUVs besting the Buick by the time everything is configured like-for-like.

All four models — Trax, Trailblazer, Encore, and Encore GX — are produced at GM's Bupyeong plant in Incheon. With the 2023 model Trailblazer and Encore GX said to enter production in April, it's anyone's guess how long the retiring models will carry on. At the moment, and even with the price increases, the Trailblazer is only $200 more expensive than the older and less refined Trax; it's hard to understand why any buyers would choose the smaller car without major incentives. The Encore GX asks a more noticeable $1,200 over the Encore. The Trailblazer and Encore GX have only been on the market for two years, we don't anticipate major changes for 2023, but further price bumps wouldn't be at all surprising.