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Automotive News & Views The Rebirth of Buick.........
421 messages, Last post on Nov 27, 2009 at 3:10 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: bumpy (Sep 19, 2008 4:18 pm) The buzz is also that this "Chinese" styling is to be the future face of Buick here in America. Lucerne replacement is still a couple years away. The question is going forward, will the "new GM way of thinking" and these new vehicles coming out of that be able to pull Buick out of it's sales malaise??? |
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The answer is maybe or probably, IF the new designs replace the frumpy image with a good dose of cool factor. To me, Buick's post war zenith was the '55 model year, when you could be proud to drive a Buick, and the Century, especially, was cool. Some subsequent model years were also good. For example, for '63, when the Riviera was introduced, and again in '67, '69, '78, and '85, Buick fulfilled its mission of delivering substantial, comfortable, upper mid-range to luxury cars, in my opinion. Although The '78 and '85 large body Buicks were down-sized, they were roomy, comfortable, premium cars. However, despite some promising ralleyes, Buick never regained the cache' it had in the '40s (the '49 Roadmaster was drop dead gorgeous) through mid-'50s. The brand may have come close to regaining its glory some years, but then fell back, in years '57 and '58, for example. Like other domestics, quality problems played a major role in Buick's decline in the '70s and '80s, and the brand never regained traction. Let's hope the next generation LaCrosse demonstrates that the Enclave wasn't just an aberration. |
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Sep 19, 2008 2:33 pm) |
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Well, you make some good points, dtownfb. I guess we'll have to wait and see whether Buick can change its image fairly quickly. As a premium brand, it doesn't have to attract the below 30 crowd, but it certainly must appeal to the late 30s and older crowd, instead of only (with few exceptions) the 55+ motorists. I don't know for sure, but I imagine one of the objectives of the Buick Reatta was to pull younger people into the showroom, but it failed to do that. I think the Reatta was nicely styled, but its driving dynamics weren't sporty enough. It should have offered a supercharged version with a tight suspension and a 5-speed manual, a Reatta "Grand National" or "GNX." That may have helped, and may have saved the Reatta. |
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Replying to: hpmctorque (Sep 21, 2008 3:34 pm)
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Replying to: hpmctorque (Sep 21, 2008 3:34 pm) GM has too many brands. They can't afford to keep them all and support them properly.
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Replying to: dtownfb (Sep 21, 2008 4:55 pm) http://www.autoblog.com/2008/09/19/spy-shotss-2010-buick-lacrosse-little-camo-pl- us-interior/ The Lucerne outsells the Avalon. The current Lacrosse has been saddled with "looks like a 2nd gen Taurus" The Aura's biggest hurdle is that there are only 500 dealerships in the country. I doubt Traverse shoppers will be cross shopping the Enclave. 2 different price ranges. If the Enclave was too expensive, then the Acadia would drown out it's sales, which it doesn't
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side by side:  Taurus  2005 LaCrosse Really. They're not THAT similar!
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The current Buick Lineup is a mixed one IMO: -The Enclave is selling well but it isn't that impressive to me as I think the market is shifting to smaller, lighter CUVs (Vue, Flex, CR-V, etc.). It is really quite "trucky" when you see it up close, the interior of the less than top line version is no nicer than that of a GMC Acadia IMO and the damn thing sits so high that the old folks who like Buicks will find it hard to get into. -The Lucerne has a crappy name but it's the only thing in the lineup with anything like the luxury land yacht appeal of the Buicks of yore. The styling while gimmick- free and clean is a little anonymous to my eyes. -The Lacrosse OTOH has little appeal even to the oldsters who gravitate to Buicks. You don't see many even in places like Florida and Arizona. Nope, Buick has a ways to go before it's reborn. |
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Replying to: lemko (Sep 22, 2008 5:43 am) I think the best thing Buick has going for it is this new Chinese styling. That Riviera they are going to produce for the Chinese market is the best-looking Buick in a long LONG time. And anyone contemplating the long-term future of Buick MUST at least take into account the strong likelihood that if Buick continues to be sold in the U.S. it will be Chinese-designed and built. China is a much more popular market for Buick, and the cars will eventually be designed and sold where they sell best. |
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