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Automotive News & Views The Rebirth of Buick.........
417 messages, Last post on Nov 19, 2009 at 8:10 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Yes, really, as the link in message 167 shows. Congratulations, Buick and Jaguar, another brand plagued with dependability issues just a few years ago. For many years, Americans bemoaned the fact that domestic cars weren't as dependable as the import brands. Now Detroit, and Buick especially, is delivering on dependability. Will this buy market share for the domestics? I sure hope so, because, quite aside from any sentimental or patriotic attachment one may have for the Detroit 3, your tax dollars and mine are on the line for the domestics to pull through this sales slump. How else will the government loans ever be repaid. I think it's fair that, since the domestic brands lost market share when quality was lousy, if consumers are objective, some will trade their imports for Detroit 3 cars. Of course, dependability is only one of several factors that consumers consider. The marketplace is the final arbiter of who wins and who loses. That said, though, I hope the latest dependability news helps overcome the negative perceptions that prevent many people from even considering domestic cars.
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Buick's problem isn't reliability...... it really is perceptional. Several years back I tried to persuade my 70 year old mother to buy a Buick. Good car and comfortable, reliable, powerful. All the things she wanted...AND there was a Buick dealer who'd been there 50 years just a few miles away. No doing. Buick's were 'old people's cars' and she might be 70, but she wasn't THAT old. She bought an Avalon. I also don't believe that a small car would serve Buick well. Either a "Cimmaron" or a stripper would hurt the near-luxury image that Buick needs. I see a TV Ad for Buick that starts out with a view through a car passenger door window showing a harried looking mom in a beat up mini van shouting over her shoulder at a couple of screaming kids. A power window rolls up and the screaming is replaced by quiet, beautiful music. We pan the camera to show a well-dressed and elegant woman in her early 40's smiling gently and then pulling away from the traffic signal. The camera lingers on the Buick name on the trunk of the car. As the gentle classical music continues, a voice-over says: "Buick. Because you're earned it". That approach, I think, would help differentiate Buick as 'successful people's' cars to aspire to after the kids are gone...... |
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You make some good points in terms of perceptions, but perceptions can and do change. I think the lag time for perceptual change is a big challenge for Buick and the other domestic automakers. Can they hold out until perception catches up with reality? The next several weeks and months will likely give us the answer. Insofar as the smaller Cruze based Buick is concerned, this isn't such a small car in today's and tomorrow's world. Not when Chevy will introduce the Spark. The Aveo and Spark are both smaller than the Cobalt, and, from what I've read, the Cruze is somewhat larger than the Civic and slightly larger than the Cobalt. To succeed, the Buick version of the Cruze will have to look and feel more upscale than the Chevy Cruze, outside and inside, and have one or two unique features. I don't know whether Buick will pull it off, but I think it could be done. |
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Replying to: lokki (Mar 19, 2009 6:02 am) I don't see Buick as an "old person's car." A see Buick as a "smart person's car!" I'm 43 and don't feel old at all behind the wheel of my Buicks. |
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Positive differentiaters for the Cruze-based Buick should include luxury and performance, in my opinion. If the powertrains are identical, it'll be difficult to justify spending more than for a Buick. One way to do this would be to aim this Buick at Mercedes C-Class intenders with a budget that falls about mid way between the Chevy Cruze and the C-Class. In other words, C-Class luxury, with superior performance to the Chevy Cruze. Why not aim it at BMW or Lexus? BMWs are too far from Buick. It would be too much of a leap. In terms of Lexus, to attract younger buyers I think that the smallest Buick needs to be more performance oriented, in appearance and driving dynamics, than the ES350. It has to move away from the current Buick image, and maybe be more like the spiritual successor of the Buick Century of the mid-'50s. In fact, they could make references to that desirable and successful model in their advertising. VW references it's old Beetle in its current ads. |
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so many brands crowding this marketplace, the question really becomes what is going to bring people to check Buick out. They are just like many other brands on the fringe, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Kia, Isuzu before it did its final slide into permanent darkness, Mercury, in that there are so few buyers annually now that no-one is even noticing they are there. Then Buick specifically has the added disadvantage of the stigma of GM. Some of the small brands have very devoted followings so that even sales are low they are consistent, Subaru is an example of that. Kia seems content to flood the rental fleets every time sales drop, and Buick will often do the same, although GM is moving away from that. That is not the path to long-term sales success anyway. Lemko's girlfriend's Lacrosse was the reliability leader in its segment in the JDP 3-year survey, by the way. Kudos! 
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Replying to: lokki (Mar 19, 2009 6:02 am) As the shot pans away, make sure the camera lands on the mpg read-out showing 30mpg. That's what I was getting on the rental LaCrosse I had last year. People just don't know that Buicks get pretty dang good mileage. I was impressed.
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Replying to: nippononly (Mar 19, 2009 7:41 am) The stigma of GM? To me that's a flawless diamond-studded solid 24K gold advantage!!! 
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Replying to: steve_ (Mar 19, 2009 8:58 am) From what I've seen, dealers still want insane prices for used Park Avenues. I've been searching Auto Trader, Vehix, etc. and there are some places asking huge prices for 100K+ mile Park Aves. Wassupwitdat? 
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Replying to: lemko (Mar 19, 2009 10:15 am) Yes, I know, but YOU must know by now that there are a LOT of people with the opposite opinion, right? Bear in mind that Buick is playing in and around the entry-lux area of the market, which is an area where people have a LOT of choices. |
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