Man...don't do it GM.

I test drove the Buick Lacrosse CXS and for it's price it was AMAZING.

The Rendezvous is very popular here in Toronto and the upcoming Lucerne looks like no Buick before it.

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i agree with GM killing Buick. Although they will soon run out of divisions to kill. The only survivor may by Daewoo.

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Don't do it Buick!!!

You'll upset your legions of buyers - all 20 of them.

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I don't see GM killing Buick outright but over time, we'll probably see Buick, Pontiac, and GMC meld into one umbrella brand, maybe just a GM brand. I see Saturn, Chevrolet, and Cadillac keeping their own brands.

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Too bad if true because Buick was once a great car that GM's inept management ruined.

Anybody remember when this Dynaflow ruled the road?

http://www.gilbertgazette.com/g125/images/49rivera-300w.jpg

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no gm wont cut a whole bran but them take away some of the clone cars like the buick van and other clone car but that rumor is false gm wont cut a whole brand name I guarntee it

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;) Do it! Just DO it and put a fork in it (as Paul would say). Honestly, what does the Buick nameplate represent? Nothing! If there are 1 or 2 descent cars in their lineup...so what? Since GM is the queen of badge-engineering, they can take their hot air gun and remove the "Buick" badge, and slap something else on it...something they've mastered over the years. Why, indeed, this is how GM's upper management have made entire Careers!

Do it and let's be done with it...Cripes.

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Build a car in the spirit of the Grand National/GNX from the 80's. It might not sell a bunch of cars but it will get people < 50 talking about Buick again.

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I have to admit that bald man's assessment sounds intriguing and there is proof that the management at GM is stupid enough to actually have this in mind to kill Buick. There is also plenty of evidence that the new Buicks are mediocre, overpriced and awkwardly styled vehicles.

But then again, there is evidence to support the contention that GM is trying to kill all of its divisions because they all are suffering from mediocre, poorly styled, and oft-recalled vehicles.

I've long contended that GM has abandoned producing vehicles and been content to manufacture outrage, recalls, rebates, and excuses. There isn't any company better than GM at doing those four things. Perhaps if someone gave them a cookie, they'd be happy and just pull the plug and be done with it!

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again, uneducated, groundless postulating. Thanks again for quality work, autoblog.

Buick is pitching a new SUV. This doesn't happen from a car company 'slated to die.'

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Geez, this guy's talking about killing Buick like it's a bad thing. Why not bring back Oldsmobile while you're at it?

Also, he's arguing how the Regal and Century got "trimmed down to one" when they were in fact the exact same car built on the same platform. Ditto for the LeSabre and Park Avenue and their Lucerne replacement.

And the LaCrosse starts at $23,500, not $32K. Not the best journalism there...

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Geez, this guy's talking about killing Buick like it's a bad thing. Why not bring back Oldsmobile while you're at it?

Also, he's arguing how the Regal and Century got "trimmed down to one" when they were in fact the exact same car built on the same platform. Ditto for the LeSabre and Park Avenue and their Lucerne replacement.

And the LaCrosse starts at $23,500, not $32K. Not the best journalism there...

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Saturn's the one that should die. Its job is to be an "import fighter." What a great reason to create a whole new brand, eh?

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Brian Sy, re-read the article. Flint states: "It is a decent car, but fully loaded it stickers for $32,000 and is up against great competitors" -- not base price

In fact, you can easily get it over 33k when it's fully loaded, if you go the "build your own" section on buick.com

Flint makes some good points, but he's just speculating by tieing together various items that have been said and various trends he has seen. With time and energy anyone can take the same items and spin it in a positive light.

Should GM kill Buick? NO. In fact, I think GM made a mistake taking Saturn up market. Saturn was in a better position to take the small car "quirky" market [Scion] than go against Acura. If they positioned Buick against Acura / mid luxury, at least it has a history in that market. Moving Saturn to compete against Acura is like having GMC shift to fight Audi.

Buick is in a perfect position to be the YING to Caddy's YANG. It just need product. If I was GM, I would put Buick on the same path that Cadallic followed except produce cars that are soft, round and Lexus/Acura like.

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C&D just had a comparison and the LaCrosse came in 2nd to last, behind Avalon, 300 Touring, Maxima, Five Hundred, and ahead of Amanti. The Lucerne and future products must do better against the competition if Buick is to survive. Otherwise, Flint's prediction will come to pass, sooner rather than later.

C&D got the Avalon from 0-60 in 6 seconds, and mentioned that it's the car that's got the formula GM needs to make a better Buick. Powerful engine, decent fuel economy, upscale interior, big back seat. Is that so hard?

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@ed,

You forget, this is General Motors we're talking about. They never met a platform they couldn't badge-engineer into at least 5 brands. When you say "Buick is pitching a new SUV," you really mean "GM is pitching a new SUV, and they're working on a front clip, tailgate, and dash modules for Buick. If they kill the Buick brand, they'll find a way to use the parts in a Saab."

And don't forget the last Oldsmobile Bravada that shipped around the same time GM announced that Olds was dead.

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Kill it. It's dead. There's nothing defining Buick anymore. And ed #7, pooping out another billionth SUV is not a sign of life.

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Kill Pontiac and Saturn.

Chevy = solid basic transportation, trucks, and performance (Corvette)

Buick = Upscale.

Cadillac = Luxury.

GMC = keep it as rebadged Chevy trucks so the non-chevy dealers can sell trucks and SUV's.

Hummer = keep it as a cash cow niche market.

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The Buick brand still hold a tremendous amount of equity with the American people. People think the cars are bland and boring (which they are) and the design hasn't really changed in 10ish years (which it hasn't). Remember when they made all that noise about the "new design" of the Park Avenue and all they did was punch 3 holes in the front fender?
But that doesn't equate to killing a brand. Buick has a very solid percieved reputation for quality among all american car brands. That can be turned into great sales with a great product.
If Buick comes out with some great cars, people will buy them en masse. They don't have the uphill battle of trying to earn brand equity, they already have it.
I think GM should fold Pontiac into Buick and kill Oldsmobile. Take the G6 upmarket and position it against the new Acuras, and undercut the acuras by thousands. Redesign the GTO with new sheet metal as a Riviera. Forget the Aztek/Rendesvous ever existed. Get out of minivans altogether. And while I'm in charge, bring back that honking beast of a sunday cruiser the Roadmaster.
Yeah, that's what I think anyways. Not that it matters.

My real point is that Buick has a reputable brand name. Its advertising nerd-term for it is "brand equity" its hard earned, and hard to come by in GM's lineup. I say GM should hang onto it for all its worth. Buick Built GM, and she could save it.

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yeah, so forget that part about killing the already dead Olds

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