Buick Works Hard to Perk Up Its Image

[BUICK RACER]

Buick Works Hard to Perk Up Its Image

www.voanews.com

John Birchard

29 Nov 2003, 21:23 UTC

The Buick division of General Motors observed its 100th anniversary earlier this year. It was a low-key birthday, in keeping with Buick's conservative image. But, the company is now working hard to perk up that image.

Buick has a problem. The average Buick customer is 62 years old. Their customer base is literally dying. In order to survive, they must appeal to younger people. They're doing it with trucks. The newest is the Rainier.

William Jeanes is a contributing editor at AutoWeek magazine.

It's not exactly its [buick's] first truck, depending on how you categorize things," he said. "It has the Rendezvous, which is one of what they refer to as a crossover vehicle that they had some success with. I think they sold about 60,000 or 70,000 of them last year, but this is their first real sport utility vehicle and it should do well for them."

The Rainier uses the same sturdy body-on-frame underpinnings as the Chevrolet Trailblazer and GMC Envoy of the mid-sized sport utility class. Chris Mazglad, marketing director for Buick Trucks, says they gave the vehicle two engine choices, the standard in-line six and an optional big V-8, for plenty of power.

"Buick has also always been known for its exceptionally smooth ride and what we did with Rainier was, to make sure that that was the case on every single vehicle," she said. "So, not only do you start with a great architecture already, but we put the electronic air suspension as standard on every vehicle, so in essence, you're riding on air."

Prices for the Rainier start around $35,000 for the six-cylinder model. The V-8 begins around $39,000. Options can take the total up to more than $44,000.

AutoWeek's William Jeanes says the company made some additional improvements to make the Rainier stand apart from its General Motors brethren.

"Buick took it and added a great many Buick touches to it, not the least of which is a fairly sophisticated sound-deadening system," said William Jeanes. "And they did some exterior styling tweaks on the sheet metal, softened it enough that a traditional Buick buyer, the people who would go into a Buick showroom in the first place, they won't have something that's too rough-and-ready for them."

We asked Buick's Chris Mazglad whether the two "trucks," the Rendezvous and the Rainier, have had the desired effect on the age of customers. She's says it's a bit early for definitive figures on Rainier, but...

"We're very happy that Rendezvous is part of our Buick portfolio," said Chris Mazglad. "And, yes, it has certainly served to bring the overall average age down. And we're currently running about 15 years or so younger than what our former Buick sedan buyers are."

We asked journalist Jeanes if he found any particular shortcomings in the Buick sport utilities.

"There's nothing really, really wrong with them," he said. "The only thing that you could say, that you could push for, and it's true of all the large SUVs, it would be nice if they'd use less fuel. But they don't and, you know, that's that."

Mr. Jeanes is right. The Rainier, in particular, is big, powerful, luxurious and the V-8 engine drinks up a lot of gasoline. But, until the price of gas rises well past the $2 per U.S. gallon level, Buick should sell a lot of trucks.

[HurstGN]

How do you perk up a 62 year old? Make a truck that makes him/her feel like he/she's only 50! That's about all the "perking up" you're going to get making trucks that can't be afforded by none but "management" types with enough salary.

Having a lineup of cars that covers compact, midsize, personal luxury, and luxury (remember Skyhawk, Regal, Riviera and Electra) would appear the way to go. Young buyers can start smaller with goofy add on ground effects. These ground effects and wings are good for the younger drivers...they all add weight to already underpowered cars and further slow them down. But the kids like them...so let them start here (Compact - Skyhawk). Then as they mature, they move up in size and power (Midsize - Regal). Once they hook up with a life partner and decide to settle down a little, they move to the options they've grown up wanting but couldn't afford (Personal Luxury - Riviera). As kids come along and they realize the body can't move in the same way it once did, they move up once again (Luxury - Electra).

So, what's missing here? The entry level!!! You may not think there's any brand loyalty out there, but look at how many people still think Japanese cars are built better. Look at the surprise when Buick was recognised for building quality cars. The 80's were supposedly terrible years for American cars....but I still drive an 86 Buick daily with 155,000 on the clock. Oh, it's fun to take it to cruises and get remarks on how nice it looks for a 90's car. I'm loyal to my driver that takes me anywhere in any weather...and the younger buyers are looking hard at the japanese cars. The worst part is they continue to do so after buying their first one. Once they buy that first jap crap car to put ground effects on it, you've lost the chance to make a good first impression with a Buick. Now it's a fight to get them back when they're 50 and 60...and you've lost 30 years of their car buying life! Oh yea, lets clean up when they're old and ready to kick the bucket.

Face it, lowering the average Buick buyers age by 15 years isn't good enough. You need to hook them young and keep them as not only customers, but friends. Anyone who's reading this, unless it was shoved in front of you by somebody else, falls into the friends category. So, how old are you friend? And if you have kids, what Buick gets them excited?

[Guest 31tudor]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">How do you perk up a 62 year old?</div></div>

I wonder if Pfizer makes enough Viagra to get some excitement back in new Buicks?

[JohnD1956]

going back to the previous post, I just turned 52. I've had lots of Buicks, and still do, but ironically, I've only bought one brand new, a 93 Regal custom. What a car!!! 3800, and electronic 4 speed automatic with a 3.06 drive ratio. Even with 133K on the clock this car can still snap your neck, as my wife likes to point out.

Anyways we've always had Buicks, holding onto our 56 Super for 29 years. Our Oldest boy is 28, He loves 69 Electra's, like the one my sister gave to him when he was 16. A nice big 4 door, which we painted and cleaned up ( not a real restoration, but just a VERY pretty driver) and he's still hooked on the 56 and the current 69's I have. He also loved his 88 Park Ave, his 85 Park Ave 2 dr, his 85 Lesabre Wagon, and lastly regrets having to trash his 87 Electra T-Type. But the 93 Regal Grans Sport has won him over. Our youngest son is stuck on his 89 Lesabre T-Type. This boy was a chevy guy, although he always liked and respected the 56 and 69. But then we went to test drive an 87 Lesabre T-Type and that was all she wrote. Now he is in an endless quest to find a low milage 88 or 89 Lesabre T-Type for posterity, and then he will drive his current one till it dies.

Our middle boy is something of an enigma. He has great admiration for the 56 and the 69's, but will drive anything that gets him from point A to point B.

Oh well, 2 out of three ain't bad!

Meanwhile, the beautiful wife will not let me sell the 56, or either of the 69's, She insists I think twice about letting the 95 Riviera go( since I always wanted one of those) and would not let me buy her a local 96 2 DR Regal Grand Sport because she loves that 93 Regal too much. Go figure.

[HurstGN]

JohnD1956,

Do you notice a pattern with your cars....everything is basically 10 years old or older. And that's the point. The new stuff just don't cut it with us Buick fans...how will we ever get new followers if the new cars just don't inspire us....excite us...make us feel ANYTHING but nauseaus.

[Smartin]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> The Buick division of General Motors observed its 100th anniversary earlier this year. It was a low-key birthday, in keeping with Buick's conservative image. But, the company is now working hard to perk up that image.

</div></div>

Low key??

[Centurion]

Adam, it was "low key" from the standpoint that Buick did little to advertise its Centennial. Certainly, it was "low key" in comparison to Ford, who apparently made a big deal about its centennial in its television advertising. (I don't watch TV, so never saw the ads.)

I wondered whether the "low key" approach was intentional. I suspect that some marketing guru concluded that an emphasis on the centennial might communicate "old product" to some potential buyers, and it may have been perceived as disadvantageous from an image or marketing standpoint.

I think that GM may have needed to strike a delicate balance. On one hand, there are thousands of Buick buyers who appreciate the company's heritage, and it was important to honor the company's past. On the other hand, concerns about the perception of Buick as an old person's car -- and a desire to change that -- might have dictated caution in marketing to those who will not consider a vehicle having an image that is remotely "stodgy".

Of course, it is possible that GM never considered any of this and I'm just dreaming stuff up!

[Guest imported_MrEarl]

No, no, no....

Didn't you realize what Buicks ploy was. I heard that it rained every day of the Ford centennial so apparently Buick spent all there money makin that happen.

But hey, the old car gods saw fit to let the sun and stars shine on the Buick festivities. Couldn't have been any more beautiful. That's got to count for somethin. Apparently ole David Dunbar has more pull up there than ole Henry. and ain't that the way it should be.

[Guest my3buicks]

I think the Harley Earl commecials in some sense celebrate the centennial. I just saw the newer one with Harley Jingling the keys to the new Rainier to draw Tiger outside to see what was making the sound only to find the rainier sitting there, he climbs in and the keys again jingle in the ignition. Some people can't appreciate the commercials but I think they are effective with allot of class without the vroom vroom tire screeching that all the other commercials do.

[Centurion]

I just wanted to clarify my comments further. Buick certainly did not hold back in terms of the Centennial Celebration in Flint. It was fantastic in every respect. But it was also geared toward the Buick enthusiasts, and was not highly publicized to the general public -- outside of the Flint area.

In saying that Buick's approach was "low key", I think the writer of the article referred to Buick's 100th birthday in general -- not the celebration in Flint.

Regarding the Ford Centennial, a friend of mine has a Ford buddy who drove across country to participate in that event. His comments were that the event was poorly organized and not very satisfying. One person's opinion can mean nothing, but it certainly seems like Buick's celebration event was highly successful in comparison. The organization was superb.

[Guest imported_MrEarl]

While standing in line for the Buick book signing, I struck up a conversation with a very nice gentleman that had been to the Corvette, Ford and a couple of other Birthday celebrations. He had planned for sometime to make as many of the Birthday celebrations as possible since several were celebrating there 100th birthdays. I thought that was super. Anyway, he said the Buick celebration wasn't the biggest or flashiest but the cars and people were by far the classiest. He said he got kinda tired of seeing model A's and Mustangs. He said the numbers of styles and models of all the different years of Buicks represented was awesome. I think that says alot about Buick. Certainly not a dull past.