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Automotive News & Views GM News, New Models and Market Share
8524 messages, Last post on Nov 30, 2009 at 2:19 PM
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Replying to: dino001 (Jul 02, 2009 5:43 pm) OK, but this begs the question; aside from the "bling" crowd, what is wrong with traditional "American" styling in a car, which generally means a little bit bigger and the chrome accents and grilles? If they made an AWD variant of the old Lacrosse with a 6 sp. manual, and a 450 hp twin turbo 3.6L, and put a Corvette suspension in it, would it not get attention from the younger crowd?? Mind you, the Grand National and GNX weren't much different from this philosophically. Just an aging Regal V6 hopped up on Steroids. |
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Jul 03, 2009 7:08 am) I always thought Buick did a big disservice to its customers when they eliminated the T-type models. I guess the Gran Sport sort of took over for it, but I never liked that name, because it sounds stuffy, sort of like "Old Sport". And names like "Ultra" just seem a bit pretentious.
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Replying to: buyamerican2 (Jul 03, 2009 5:41 am) Perhaps that's the disagreement. In the world of medium sedans, I would not put it anywhere near a 7. So if the old one was a 7 then perhaps the new one is a 10. But if the old one is a 4 then the new one might be a 6! As others have said, let's be realistic about the market. Buick is a tarnished name and even with excellent merchandise, their image is not likely to gain an significant market share. Does anybody *REALLY* think that Buick is ever going to have enough appeal to reverse the decade of decline to make it a brand worth keeping? That is why GM should dump the nameplate in the U.S.
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Replying to: tlong (Jul 03, 2009 8:00 am) Buick is to GM as Scion is to Toyota. A small niche group of three vehicles that sells well and are a step up from the plain vanilla offerings(yet not Lexus). Nobody's screaming for Toyota to drop Scion. Buicks sell well, considering. The real deal is chat to do with Chevrolet's bloat and excess.
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Replying to: plekto (Jul 03, 2009 8:36 am) Are the cars that bad or what gives? Total Buick sales were over twice Scion sales. |
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Replying to: andre1969 (Jul 03, 2009 7:45 am) I agree. I don't know if a name like Limited or Roadmaster just got long in the tooth in their eyes, but I know I'd rather see Roadmaster on my PA instead of Ultra. |
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Replying to: buyamerican2 (Jul 03, 2009 5:41 am) Which revival is that, exactly? Buick sales are by far the lowest the brand has ever had, and the decline continues this year. There are those who feel that now that Toyota has basically ruined the Scion brand, it SHOULD drop it. The exciting thing about the original Scion models was that they were JDM models that were unlike anything Toyota offered in America. Then Toyota replaced them with "Americanized" 2nd-gen versions, and now where's the attraction? Hence the tanking of sales. The same is true at Buick: its lineup consists exclusively of models that are little different from stuff GM already offers, and in Buick's case, they are also little different from what other car companies are offering. Where's the attraction?
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Replying to: nippononly (Jul 03, 2009 10:09 am) Last month they outsold Caddy. Should they now drop them??? How about Audi??? Volvo?? Acura??? Mitsubishi?? Suzuki??? Should they all go away??? The "revival" started with the Enclave. An SUV (CUV? whatever) that any upper middle class family would be proud to have in their driveway, if that is the type of vehicle they choose. When the concept came out, people raved about it's good looks, and THAT'S why they made it. The rest of the lineup suffers because it's (in car years) "older than the people buying them". Now, last year we see the Chinese Invicta concept. People said wow, great job. I like it. Too bad it's not coming here (a comment people seem to make about ALL Chinese market Buicks). Well, guess what; IT IS!!! With very little change, it's the 2010 LaCrosse. And guess what, people STILL like the looks. Look at the comments from some of these posters: http://www.autoblog.com/2009/01/08/video-2010-buick-lacrosse-inside-and-out/ Not 100% positive, but a general feeling that it's a good looking car. Now, if they can only market it. "Take a look at me now", eh.....valid point but eh...I dunno.
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Jul 03, 2009 11:22 am) But the sales figures show a continuing decline even AFTER these new and acclaimed models (like Enclave) came out. I would bet a great deal against the 2010 Lacrosse turning that trend around. Buick needs a game-changer. They don't have one in the pipeline. OTOH, if I remember rightly they have had some gorgeous concepts in the last 10 years that might have been game-changers if they had ever gotten beyond the artist's napkin. A sexy convertible? A sedan with some actual performance cred? Those could be game-changers for Buick. Maybe. A 5500-pound minivan without the sliding doors and some small tweaks on an age-old formula for large 4-door sedans are not going to cut it.
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some people are really showing anger at the car. Is it at dealers to see?
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