Buick Marque Being Removed

[D Yaros]

Per the NY Times the Buick will no longer ID their cars with Buick lettering.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/19/business/buick-sales-china.html?fbclid=IwAR2wZu8tBKTUjNp6seuRUskH2Mrc1JuiCrPZnS4blxEauHxDBQZnRIaUoes

 

Nothing like being proud of your product!

 

Guess GM failed to learn a damn thing from the demise of Oldsmobile and Pontiac?

[Centurion]

Many makes have deleted the brand nameplates from their products.

 

Nonetheless, GM's unwillingness to invest in Buick in the USA is infuriating.  Look at the billions that GM has blown on Cadillac during recent years, yet Buick gets almost nothing in terms of unique product for the U.S. market.  And there is no worthwhile marketing or advertising for the brand.

 

The remaining Buick passenger cars sold in the USA are imported from Germany, and those few buyers who even know that they are offered go to dealer lots to find that none are even in stock.  It's tough to sell cars when none are on hand.

 

General Motors could give lessons on destroying once-proud automotive brands.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Dare I say look who is in charge?

 

  Ben

[JohnD1956]

It probably doesn't matter too much.  As I drive down the road today I find myself always looking at the logos on the various cars and identifying them that way.  Besides the folks on your rear bumper while looking at their cell phones don't care about themselves or what's in front of them anyhow.  The rest of the article is very depressing regarding the state of the auto industry and Buicks immediate future too.  Wish they were wrong, but after a short burst of favor a few years ago,  I would agree with the author that the Buicks in the USA are not selling well at all.  For myself I am considering other brands for a new car now too.  Who wants a car that you can't get parts for? 

 

 

[Centurion]

General Motors has finally hired a Chief Marketing Officer, so let's hope that Buick gets some attention fast.

 

The last major campaign -- "That's not a Buick" -- was stupid and insulting, and was no way to burnish the brand image.

 

And there is a new Encore variant on the way in the near future -- albeit with 3-cylinder power -- and a new Buick Enspire CUV coming in 2021 for the US market.  Hoping that the Enspire will be produced here and replace the non-competitive Envision from China.

 

[old-tank]

Now we can go to orphan car shows and meets.

[John_S_in_Penna]

Thanks for posting the article, Dave.

It was a very thorough article and had

a lot of information I did not know.

[Bhigdog]

Old buicks are neat. New buicks are just another car. Little more than an appliance on wheels assembled with off the shelf parts, of adequate quality, from the least least costly supplier......bob

[jeff_a]

I always thought the Rendezvous was a nice vehicle, though have never ridden in one. I was looking at old Buick commercials and saw this from the August, 2019 article "Remember Those Weird Celebrity Car Endorsements?" on MotorBiscuit. The tornado commercial is sort of high concept, but they put some money into it:

 

Tiger Woods and Buick

Tyler Carder@redract

 

 

The real insperation for the lyric "When I pull up in a Buick you know what I'm doin" @KodakBlack1k @TigerWoods

 

3

9:15 AM - Jan 7, 2019 · Roswell, GA

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Pro golfer Tiger Woods helped Buick market luxury cars from 1999 to 2008. Their strangest advertisement was a 2001 commercial for the Rendezvous. The commercial showed a spinning tornado — filled with Buicks — pulling the golfer upward while a Billy Preston song plays.

Woods and his passengers land safely on the ground in a Buick. Then, he says they’re “not in Kansas anymore.” The ad was meant to demonstrate the Buick’s power, but viewers were more focused on the weird visual effects.

GM didn’t get much success from its nine-year relationship with Woods. Buick’s generally older demographic was more familiar with the actual sport than Woods himself.

Edited September 20, 2019 by jeff_a
re-did the post with more of the article (see edit history)

[Frank DuVal]

1 hour ago, JohnD1956 said:

Who wants a car that you can't get parts for? 

 

Hmm, don't you have  old cars?  You should be used to this!

 

I can still get Saturn parts....My friends still get Pontiac parts....What's the  issue?

[JohnD1956]

3 minutes ago, Frank DuVal said:

 

Hmm, don't you have  old cars?  You should be used to this!

 

I can still get Saturn parts....My friends still get Pontiac parts....What's the  issue?

 

Yeah, I can see it that way too.  Lets see.  The issue is that as hard as it is to find parts for old cars at least they were made and sold originally.  I just learned that as of 2017 I could not get a new headlight assembly for my 2013.  And I'd be concerned that if I bought a Tour X nothing will be available as soon as the company that makes em is done with that contract.  Also I am more willing to lay up my collectible cars for a while till I find a part.   Not so sure I'd be that willing to lay up the "new" car for the same reason. 

 

 

[Y-JobFan]

As mentioned, there are a lot of brands that are no longer putting the spelled out names on their cars but only the logo.  If you read a lot of articles online, Buck is actually referred to as GM's quiet success.  There is not one car/suv in the Buick lineup now that needs any excuses made for it, they are all strong contenders in their perspective class.  I was disappointed to see the new LaCrosse axed as it is a true joy to be in.  One of the jewels of the Buick lineup that needs to be pushed hard by GM so people know it's even available is the Tour X, a fantastic vehicle with great reviews.  Buick has also been very strong the last decade in the J D Power's and other rankings 

 

[60FlatTop]

I used to visit the car lot religiously, every Sunday after church. There was always one that caught my eye. One of the cars I own today was "saw it Sunday morning, bought it Monday".

 

Then, some years back, I was on the Oldsmobile lot looking at their new series. The thought drove into my mind "This car is as exciting as a girlfriend my mother would pick out for me". And they have continued to identify with that thought.

 

Reading about John looking at badges, I look at those little number ones' 1.8, 2.0, 3.0, way up to 3.6 in the Cadillac. Why would anyone display such little numbers? At first I thought it was a warning. One guy passed me and it made an awful noise, smelling like hair burning. I hoped he was on the fresh side of that EPA recommended 7,000 mile oil change.

 

My next car will probably be a Lincoln (rebdged Ford) or a BMW (they rebadge them as Rolls-Royce). If whatever I buy will be a rebadged something if it's new.........

[Centurion]

Ben Perfitt, thank you for your post.  You have hit the nail squarely on the head.

 

When I see the constant / pervasive marketing for Toyota, Hyundai, and Kia, I keep asking myself what the heck GM is thinking.  It's easy to think that no one really cares about selling the cars.  And it's maddening to think that GM might someday shutter the Buick brand because "no one cares".  The fact is, enthusiasts like you and I appear to care far more than GM itself does.  

 

I wrote a lengthy email last week to auto industry analyst, Peter DeLorenzo, complaining about how GM is mishandling the Buick brand.  This was days before the article appeared in the NYT.   A futher example I cited was the Buick Verano of a few years back.  Interestingly, the J.D. Powers and Associates quality surveys revealed that the Buick Verano was the most reliable / highest-quality model sold in America, regardless of manufacturer or country of origin.  Owners seemed to love these cars.  But we never saw a single advertisement touting the car's Lexus-beating quality.  And rather than re-commit to the model and continue to refine it and intelligently market it, GM canceled it. . . .  We know that the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord are industry powerhouses because their manufacturers stuck with them, allowing them to build incredible brand equity.  This is a concept that GM fails to grasp.  It's criminal that the long-running LeSabre nameplate, among others, was allowed to die.

 

Edited September 20, 2019 by Centurion (see edit history)

[B Jake Moran]

That article was interesting - I would say fair in it's diagnosis.    I can't stand the modern GM.  I am not a fan of Mary Barra, who should have been fired a long time ago.  If GM were a football quarterback, it would be the equivalent of a "Game Manager".  The QB that runs the offense but is not talented or resourceful enough to win the big game.  Not willing to take a risk. 

 

Yes it appears the US is going the way of the SUV.   I had no idea that a Buick is simply not a Buick in any way, shape or form.  That right there tells me GM has abandoned the brand.  I suppose - since you can not have a Chevy dealer right next to a Chevy dealer, the strategy is to have a Buick-GMC dealer next door, with the same vehicles as the Chevy dealer - to maximize market penetration. 

 

Most manufacturers - Ford, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, etc - have 2 brands under their umbrella.  I think that is the way GM is heading, since Buick City is now a thing of the past and China sales are decreasing.

[NTX5467]

I will certainly concur that GM has done a very suboptimal job with Cadillac, of late.  They hired a formal Audi guy to reform things and he was a complete failure, from what I could see.  PLUS getting the dealer body up in arms about the things he wanted to do (even putting smaller dealers with "virtual test drives" rather than having real inventory on the lot!).  PLUS a new image renovation of existing dealer facilities, it seems.  He's now gone, thankfully!

 

The Cadillac XTS is tied to the Chevy Impala and Buick Lacrosse, I believe.  Those name plates are destined to be deleted in the near future, I believe.  

 

As for the last Gens' Lacrosse, it might have looked good, but was lacking, to me.  Not enough interior lateral room for the size of the outside body, to me.  I felt cramped sitting in one.  I'm not tall or extremely rotund, either!  My right leg was against the left hand side of the console as I sat in the driver's seat.

 

To it's credit, the body structure was better than the prior Lacrosse/Regal.  The engine ran much stronger than the old 3800, too.  But the car it replaced was not that "bad" either!  So there was improvement.  Only thing was that GM was going through a period when it didn't know where to "put things" for various cabin functions.  I had to get the owner's manual out to see how to adjust the radio speaker balance and tone controls!  The speedometer markings were confusing, also.

 

I could spend a lot of bytes describing how GM marketing has been substandard since the first "Not Your Father's Oldsmobile" campaign.  It completely discredited all of the famous and neat Oldsmobiles of prior times, in one feld swoop!  Sometimes, those who approve these things don't consider the consequences, just that "It's different", it seems.

 

To me Oldsmobile could have been saved, with a small bit of repositioning their advertising (forget about Lexus and Infinity, but worry about scrappy Chrysler, for example, at the time).  Position the Intrigue more against the Lincoln LS, for example, too, or the similar Jaguar model.  Nothing major involved, JUST A CAR PERSON to make the decisions.  But there had been a "parade" though the Olds front office since about 1992, when GM had a financial reckoning of impending doom if something was not done.  Products were delayed a year, with Olds seeming to get hurt worse than other GM divisions in the process, unfortunately.

 

The Chevy Impala is tied to a Cadillac platform, which makes it a nicer car, BUT also increases the price point it must sell at in the process.  A $40K Impala replaces a $30K Impala?  Similar with the Cruze replacing the Cobalt.   The Cruze is a nice car by comparison, but was significantly more expensive than the Cobalt.  It's as if nobody considered these things when they approved them??  Or were these seeming management blunders a way to orchestrate the demise of these vehicle models to fit someone's agenda???

 

One way you can see the future coming is to look at the sales brochures.  The last T-bird multi-seat couipes' sales lit got dull and thin.  Ford knew that platform's tooling had a shortening life, so they had to let the cars die slowly.  The Lincoln Mark went first, then the 'Bird and Cougar, letting the Cougar live long enough for a "__th Anniversary Edition" model.

 

Toward the end of Camaro production in Canada, the brochures got stale.  With the requisite Camaro state trooper picture of a Mustang GT driver pulled over by one, EACH year.  The cars got fewer upgrades to the interior, so it was all "stale".  But when the Camaro faithful rose up and complained, THEN Chevy put some money into the later sales brochures, with some really neat picture spreads, started to network with the major Camaro clubs, etc.  So, that whole deal was orchestrated, it seems.  As a reason to delete the car from production due to "lower sales", by observation.

 

Everyone wants an SUV?  Funny that the import branes still build "sedans" as their main product.  GM and Ford are now much heavier on SUVs than sedans, by comparison.  Perhaps if there were some really good sedans, things might be different?  Or can't GM and Ford compete the smaller car wars anymore?  With Opel gone, GM lost its primary small car machine, globally.

 

IF it weren't for the loyal Buick buyers in China, we probably would not have Buick today.  As hard as that might be to conceive, that's what the Task Force determined during the bankruptcy "discovery mode" of things.  Many on this side of the water felt that Pontiac should have survived and Buick let go, it seems, but at that time, Pontiac had NO real product in the mill, just variations of everybody else's vehicles.  So it was easier and less disruptive for Pontiac to go away, unfortunately.

 

Back to the original comments which started this thread . . .  other GM divisions have already deleted their names from the "ends" of their vehicles.  Putting logos and trim levels on the rear end.  BUT the Model Names on the front side doors . . . WHERE THERE'S ROOM TO PUT THEM. 

 

To me, that's the real reason . . . not enough WIDTH in the smaller vehicles to put the Logo AND Names on the rear end of the cars.  Just not wide enough any more.   AND, in the process, another way to mimic what many import brands have been doing for years.

 

It seems that many of GM's marketing and model decisions have been flawed, in retrospect, for the past (almost) 30 years.  Which have led us to where we are today.  FEW seem to understand that when one of the USA brands tends to vacate a particular vehicle segment, the IMPORT brands fill that void, even taking it over in the process.  That's not going to change, either.  Once lost, much harder to regain it.  I'm not sure that anybody at GM understand that as they seem to be more concerned with other issues at the present time.  LIke what's the next sales rebate product going to be?

 

Just some thoughts,

NTX5467

[BucketofBolts]

Some classy person in GM needs to revamp Buick so as to bring back the days when Buick was a status symbol. 

[B Jake Moran]

Does anyone else feel like me that Buick is sort of already gone?  With it being a 100% badge engineered brand now?  My wife just bought a 2014 Encore a month ago despite me telling her never to buy a GM product again.  (I had a 2004 Pontiac Bonneville that spit a 3.8 V6, bearings, etc and she had a Pontiac G6 that was junk)

Based on this story, I told her she really bought a Daewoo!  

 

It feel so sad that Buick is gone.  Is there a stand alone engineering group fighting for Buick?  Probably not.   Is there a Buick styling studio or have they dissolved that in favor of a small internal group challenged with figuring out how to add ventiports to a Korean or Chinese car?  

 

At age 55 1/2 I just purchased a new Toyota Tacoma to literally be my last truck.  I plan to own it out until I can no longer drive.  But, it will be paid off in 6 years or less, and then - if Buick built one - I would consider a new sports luxury coupe or sedan, even though it is GM.  I would consider only if the power plant was unique to Buick.  I understand that any power plant program must include all 3-4 makes of GM, but perhaps they could give Buick a certain displacement size and aspiration source. 

 

I would love to purchase a "new" Riviera.  Riviera is a timeless name, it's not out of date!    This could sell in the 10,000 range, which for a specialty car is likely not bad.  Camaro and Mustang keep going, Toyota just came out with their Supra. 

 

I suspect when I am 63 years old and looking around for a car, not an SUV, I will not have a Buick to consider.  And that is a sad thought indeed.

Edited September 22, 2019 by B Jake Moran (see edit history)

[Bhigdog]

Most new cars may as well be badged Maytag, Kenmore or GE.....................Bob

[NTX5467]

When the end of the Park Avenue line was imminent AND loyal/existing PA/LeSabre customers realized that, many drove hundreds of miles to our dealership to get one of the last ones.  Even after they were gone, many still trickled in as trades.  The Buick dealer body wanted a new name for a new car they could advertise as "Come See The NEW Buick".  Which was the vehicle called "Lucerne".  Which turned out to be not quite as bad (in some parts of the country where "Lucerne" was a quality private-brand of supermarket dairy products) as Lacrosse was in Canado . . . for a model name choice.

 

As much as I wanted to like that car, it really wasn't that bad as such, just that the lines didn't have any "Buick" in them past the front grille.  I tried to determine how to pus a SeeepSpear on the side, in colors, or some chrome and hash marks on the deck lid between the tail lights, but nothing really "worked" or would have looked very well.  Maybe now with the added capabilities of the "vehicle wrap" vendors, something might be possible.

 

At the time, in another forum, some (apparently younger) posters didn't like that it didn't have a manual trans.   Never did hear that comment in other Buick-related forums!

 

I will concur that Buick needs a halo vehicle, just like the coupe concept of a few years ago.  Done by two younger designers, which could have been produced on a Camaro platform.  BUT as upper management apparently didn't approve OR approve of it, it was just a styling exercise to see what some designers could do!!  It was a shame that they didn't see the value in having such a car with a Buick nameplate on it.  An upscale coupe to be a less expensive alternative to a Jaguar, for example.

 

Then came Avenir.  Another concept we all liked and could see a good-sized market for.  But it, too, was dismissed by GM management as "an exercise".  With that name applied to later high-trim interiors of some Buicks, only to fade away in a year or so.  Nobody understands that name, I suspect.

 

How GM approved of letting "somebody/new hire" manage Cadillac, in an apparent "do your thing" approach, without real apparent oversight, is a classic example of upper management "FAILS", to me.  To be sure, the CT6 (is that code for "Cadillac Touring, 6 cyl"?) has some very innovative (and expensive) tech in it's platform construction.  A more complex extension of "lighter and stronger", but obviously more complex to manufacture, I suspect.  Light enough to let the base Turbo 4cyl do a decent job of moving the car, easier still for the twin-turbo V-6, too.  With some styling cues from the Cadillac Sixteen.

 

When the Chevy Tahoe came out, it happened to coincide with the demise of the Chevy Caprice models.  The Tahoe had enough passenger/luggage space for 4 people and a week's vacation.  Or a weekend trip to the casinos?  AND it was unabashedly rear wheel drive!  Many who still wanted a rwd vehicle seemed to gravitate toward the rad truck-chassis vehicles, from what I saw.

 

Then the flood of CAR BASED utility vehicles bring us up to current times.  The problem seems to be that "sedans" don't allow for sufficient utility functions for many purchasers.  The CUVs do.  The other thing is that if you take a modern "smooth-contoured" sedan, put a more vertical rear glass contour to the roof, then you really see how short the cars are, with their short deck lid.  Even the Mercedes models!  So those "aerodynamic" lines hide their shortness as the single chrome around the windows tend to imply "length", visually.

 

Which leaves us with the Chrysler 300 and "Burnout/Doughnut King" Dodge Charger SEDANS.  At least for now.  But look at what even VOLVO is selling!  BMW, too!  And most other import brands.  FOUR DOOR sedans which many claim American buyers won't buy!  As I've said before, when the USA brands exit a market because they are "uncompetitive", the import brands fill that void.  History repeats itself!

 

NTX5467

[NTX5467]

I was looking at one of those click-bait deals about the new 2020 cars.  Volvo has one sleek, Jag-esque COUPE that looks gorgeous.  Volvo, who made the square/boxy cars in the '70s (save for the P1800)!  IF GM management hadn't gotten flaky enough to disavow what the two young designers did in designing the pre-Avenir Buick COUPE, then it could be said that Volvo was copying Buick!  Or possibly it was that Buick concept which gave the Volvo people the idea for their car?  Or perhaps those two designers went to Volvo?

 

NTX5467

[MRJBUICK]

lets face it we have been dealing with the homogenized GM branding since the debacle of the different division engines in 1977 which led to the Corporate GM engines. 

what we grew up with the design that was very different in divisions with division interiors, engines and sometimes transmissions, was how cars were sold, brand dedication.

unfortunately this is not how the world runs for the most part these days, yes there is still some brand dedication like Subaru, Toyota, but GM lost its way over the years.

i don't know if it was the removal of the high up car guys being replaced with cereal and food execs, or is it succumbing to the stock holders.

The Saturn idea was a great plan my mother had 2 of those cars and they were great little cars, easy buying experience but GM screwed that up.

it just seems that if it doesn't say Corvette they dont want to stick their neck out.

GM used to be a design leader, now it seems they try to make their cars look similar to steal sales.

how many times have you thought that the front end was the new Lacrosse or Benz Or Volvo.

The Platform issue is as old as the brands in the past they just did a better job of dressing them as their own.

as far as the new cars being soso, we had a 2004 Lesabre which we loved and drove it to death so we replaced it with a 14 Lacrosse and man am i impressed.

what a nice comfortable well thought out car, and the 304hp from the 3.6 v6 is powerful and fun.

from what i read above i cant wait to purchase a last gen Lacrosse (we buy low mileage certified used)

2 local dealers have told us that GM doesn't have any sales incentives on the Regal's which is why there are none to sell because no dealer wants to order what he cant sell.

in my opinion GM wants the sedans to die, less models, they make a bundle on trucks and suv's, and they can cut back on factories.

what was once the greatest auto manufacturer in the world is just a shell of its former self, it may be making money but as someone said as they drop the Japanese are happy to replace.

i hope we don't loose the BUICK nameplate, i dont want to be an orphan. but we are just a small bunch of dedicated souls.

once again just my opinion

[JohnD1956]

13 hours ago, MRJBUICK said:

i hope we don't loose the BUICK nameplate, i dont want to be an orphan. but we are just a small bunch of dedicated souls

 

The whole focus of this thread is that the word BUICK will not be on futures models.  But that does not stop them from putting the tri-shield on, and that is how the bigger group of  future purchasers (a.k.a. younger folks) recognize the brand.  Even if all members of the BCA bought a new Buick every year, starting this year,  that is still a very small percentage of the sales target. So it does not surprise me that the "new" GM would succumb to fit in with the other manufacturer's actions, to get in on the bigger piece of the auto market.   

 

This, of course, means that the New GM Buicks will look just like any other car out there, and it is the reality of our times. Take all the "unique car models" of all the manufacturers and add them together, it is probably still a minute part of the auto market.  If the New GM did decide to make a stab at a unique car, chances are it would be unlikely to capture all of the buyers in that unique market, including the many members of the BCA who have bought other than Buicks over the last decade or two, and that would just accelerate fiscal demise.  

 

My feeling is the New GM is not the original GM and so be it.  But they still market some excellent cars!  I still like my 2013 Regal GS.  And I still would like a Regal Tour X.   But the New GM has likely lost me as a future customer by their decision to eliminate anything smaller than a CUV.    Meantime I feel that my older Buicks are, indeed, already orphans, since the GM that built them exists no longer.  And that's not the end of the world. 

 

Time moves forward.  There is only one alternative for an individual to stop that, but I like this side of the grass. 

[Frank DuVal]

On 9/21/2019 at 10:23 AM, B Jake Moran said:

Most manufacturers - Ford, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, etc - have 2 brands under their umbrella.

 

Toyota has had three for years. Toyota, Scion and Lexus. They learned from GM and Alfred Sloan about Brand Architecture.😉

 

On 9/23/2019 at 10:05 PM, MRJBUICK said:

The Saturn idea was a great plan my mother had 2 of those cars and they were great little cars, easy buying experience but GM screwed that up.

 

Wife loved Saturn buying process. She put off buying another new car for 17 years, because Saturn no longer was around with the no-haggle process. Finally did buy a 2015 Encore, but Saturn SW2 is still here for her dump runs (too rural for trash pick-up). Over 200K  and as long as I check the oil it will be around for another 10 years at least! Passes emission testing too! 

 

On 9/22/2019 at 2:07 PM, B Jake Moran said:

(I had a 2004 Pontiac Bonneville that spit a 3.8 V6, bearings, etc

 

What did you do? Every 3800 Buick engine around here is either on the road or well over 250 K miles.  Sure the non-supercharged ones need intake gaskets at some point. Put those on and keep rolling.👍

 

On 9/23/2019 at 10:05 PM, MRJBUICK said:

i don't know if it was the removal of the high up car guys being replaced with cereal and food execs, or is it succumbing to the stock holders.

 

I went to high school with Rick Wagoner. He was not a "gear head". That showed when he made decisions at GM!😲

[Kevin M]

I can say I’m in agreement with most of what y’all have said. I did a paper for one of my capstone business classes in college on brand image and I chose Buick. This was in early 2016, so a year or so after the avenir concept came out. That was my whole focus of look they’re trying to be new and exciting but that never happened. It’s just some rebranded opel or Chevy.

I do like the regal tourX, For what it is. I don’t think I’d buy one new unless they make it closer in size to the 96 roadmaster. But that won’t happen.  

I do agree the GM that made the mistake of getting rid of cars. The foreign brands have done a very good job of taking over that market. If GM made some small things to compete with stuff like the VW GTIs and Subaru WRXs they’d get a lot of young buyers. All they’d need to do would be make a gs or t type regal two door with a manual tranny in it. 

But to the point of no more names on cars. I think it’s dumb all the over regulation has made cars all look the same anyway, only way to tell them apart is by finding the name in it. 

[avgwarhawk]

GM did a great job of losing me as a customer when I purchased a new 1988 Monte Carlo.  It was nothing short of junk.  I have not purchased a new GM product since then.   However, I love the TourX wagon.  I would love to have one.    

[Talarico8447]

Sorry to hear that Buick will no longer put the Buick lettering on its product.  Thats a step in the wrong direction.

[1957buickjim]

On 9/20/2019 at 7:38 PM, Centurion said:

Ben Perfitt, thank you for your post.  You have hit the nail squarely on the head.

 

When I see the constant / pervasive marketing for Toyota, Hyundai, and Kia, I keep asking myself what the heck GM is thinking.  It's easy to think that no one really cares about selling the cars.  And it's maddening to think that GM might someday shutter the Buick brand because "no one cares".  The fact is, enthusiasts like you and I appear to care far more than GM itself does.  

 

I wrote a lengthy email last week to auto industry analyst, Peter DeLorenzo, complaining about how GM is mishandling the Buick brand.  This was days before the article appeared in the NYT.   A futher example I cited was the Buick Verano of a few years back.  Interestingly, the J.D. Powers and Associates quality surveys revealed that the Buick Verano was the most reliable / highest-quality model sold in America, regardless of manufacturer or country of origin.  Owners seemed to love these cars.  But we never saw a single advertisement touting the car's Lexus-beating quality.  And rather than re-commit to the model and continue to refine it and intelligently market it, GM canceled it. . . .  We know that the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord are industry powerhouses because their manufacturers stuck with them, allowing them to build incredible brand equity.  This is a concept that GM fails to grasp.  It's criminal that the long-running LeSabre nameplate, among others, was allowed to die.

 

GM's new marketing campaign:

[FLYER15015]

I'm not buying another Buick till the new Roadmaster, with 4 port holes comes out.

Just have to take good care of the '40 LTD in the meantime.

 

Mike in Colorado

[60FlatTop]

On 10/10/2019 at 2:01 PM, 1957buickjim said:

GM's new marketing campaign:

 

When Benz was in charge of Chrysler around '05 and '06 each dealership was budgeted $25,000 per month for warranty work. If the budget was exceded managers were told to eat the work or push the customer to another dealership.

A friend was body shop manager and quite frustrated due to paint issues on the new cars. That type of thinking is contagious.