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Automotive News & Views GM News, New Models and Market Share
8060 messages, Last post on Nov 09, 2009 at 5:54 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Jul 02, 2009 4:31 am) Unfortunately, that's something that costs a lot to fix, either marketing-wise or product differentiation. But until GM brings their reputation back up somewhat, the perception will be that Buick and Cadillac are using "commoner" Chevy drivetrains, and not that you're getting high-end luxury-brand components in your Chevy.
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Jul 01, 2009 12:59 pm) I'm sure there's at least one Buick LaCrosse you won't be passing. My girlfriend drives her car very aggressive and is as proud of it as you import fanboys are of your Teutonic tanks.
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Jul 01, 2009 2:03 pm) |
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Replying to: mcribb (Jul 01, 2009 5:36 pm)
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Jul 02, 2009 4:31 am) That's one area where GM used to be really bad. It seems like they made Chevies cheaper on purpose, just to force you to move up the ladder to Pontiac/Olds/Buick. For instance, after the failed Turboglide, I don't think you could even get a 3-speed automatic in a Chevy until 1965, and then only if you got a big-block. I don't think the 3-speed automatic became available with the small-block until 1969! I think Ford did something similar, although they got on the ball a bit quicker. One of my coworkers briefly had a 1962 Ford Galaxie with a 292 V-8 and a 2-speed "Ford-O-Matic" transmission. Chrysler, in contrast, got on the ball early, and in 1960, even the cheapest Valiant could be had with a 3-speed automatic. I think people got used to Mopars and Fords being more and more alike, but expected GM to keep their individuality. So when the GM cars became more and more alike, customers started to balk. As for the engine swapping fiasco, the main reason GM got into trouble with that is Oldsmobile actually mentioned the "Rocket" V-8 in their advertising, and played it up to be a superior engine, and a strong selling point. So when people found out their Delta 88, which they bought based on the advertising, and perhaps past experiences with Oldsmobile cars, suddenly found out it had a Chevy 350 under the hood, they were understandably pissed. And I'll admit, being a Pontiac fan, that I turned down a '79 Bonneville years ago because it had a Buick 350 under the hood, rather than a Pontiac 350. My main rationale at the time, however, was that my '82 Cutlass Supreme with its junky 231 was still fresh in my mind, and that Buick 350 looked enough like the 231 to make me leery. I did find out later though, that while the two were related at birth, they had both gone through so many revisions and alterations over the years, that they weren't that similar anymore. So while a Chevy 229 was just a 305 with two cylinders lopped off, the Buick V-6 and the smallblock V-8 were two vastly different beasts. I also found out that, by 1979, Pontiac wasn't putting their own 350 in ANY full-sized cars anymore. If you got a 350 Catalina/Bonneville that year, supposedly they ALL had Buick engines!
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Replying to: steve_ (Jul 01, 2009 5:44 pm) |
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Replying to: lemko (Jul 02, 2009 5:35 am) You would stand out in San Diego if you did not have a Marine Corps insignia on your Buick or Caddy. They are still popular with the retired military that we have more than our fair share. They tend to keep San Diego a bit more stable than the rest of CA. We are also more conservative and tend to Buy American south of the LA/Orange County line. |
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Replying to: carstryke (Jul 01, 2009 8:15 pm)
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Replying to: andre1969 (Jul 02, 2009 5:46 am) |
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Replying to: lemko (Jul 02, 2009 5:44 am) There's an old saying (I think it was John DeLorean that said it) that while it's easy to sell an old person a young person's car, it's almost impossible to sell a young person an old-people's car! There's a difference between revering and respecting old people, and trying to imitate them! Also, I think you have to look at WHY certain cars are driven by older people. Back in the 50's, 60's, 70's, and even part of the 1980's, often you'd see older people driving a Buick, Caddy, Lincoln, Chrysler, etc because they had finally gotten to that point in life where they could afford a car like that. Younger people may have been aspiring to that type of car, but just couldn't afford it yet. And that's why cars like the Chevy Caprice, Fury VIP, and Ford LTD came out...to give younger, less monied people who aspired to a Caddy, Lincoln, or Imperial a less expensive alternative. Heck, I'd rather be seen as a doddering old geezer driving a Buick, than a pretentious poseur valueless yuppie snob driving the latest overpriced imported ego-mobile. Well, I'd rather not be seen as either. We'll all get old eventually, so I'd rather not rush it! But at the same time, I'm not one to jump on the bandwagon and chase the latest flash-in-the-pan fad. |
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