Buick tries to avoid Oldsmobile's fate
Buick's marketers are caught between a rock and a hard place, or more accurately between the aging baby boomers of its core market and the younger Gen-Y buyers it needs to grow the brand. With the average Buick owner nearing retirement age, brand managers are trying to play both sides of the fence, making the OnStar Directions and Connections service (a favorite of older buyers that don't like complex nav systems) standard for all 2007 models, while readying a fleet of tricked-out Lucerne sedans for the upcoming youth-oriented Specialty Equipment Marketers Association trade show in Las Vegas.The trick for Buick is to keep its core market happy while attracting new, younger buyers - avoiding the fate of the Oldsmobile brand, whose "Not your father's Oldsmobile" campaign alienated the AARP segment while bland models failed to attract new customers. Falling market share eventually led to the demise of the famous brand.
So how's Buick doing? Well, the average age of a Buick owner is 63 (compared to 58 for Cadillac), and sales are down 17 percent so far this year while General Motors as a whole is down only 11 percent. We'll see if the SEMA initiative lights a fire under the tuner crowd, but the upcoming Enclave certainly looks well-positioned to grab a significant share of the luxury crossover segment.
[Source: BrandWeek]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
D Man 5:43PM (10/17/2006)
Let Buick die like Oldsmobile. In fact I can't wait until GM dies, Toyota is on their heels! GM should have joined the Nissan-Renault Alliance when they had their chance!
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BillC 5:50PM (10/17/2006)
yeah..........all the American companies should close like the asshole above suggests.... Yes Buick should have been closed before Oldsmobile but it's to late for that.
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Rea Buttermore 5:54PM (10/17/2006)
When all of the good jobs are gone from this nation, look in your garage. I have driven GM all my life [I'm 70], and have driven all over the country in them without one breakdown. I still say remember the second world war and the Alamo. Buy American, or shut up when you job goes out of the country.
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Corey W. 5:57PM (10/17/2006)
Just my opinion, but GM should design Cadillac to compete with BMW, Buick should compete with Mercedes Benz. The AARP segment type of styling has to stop soon, if Buick is on the dive you need to make correction now before it's to late.
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hj 5:57PM (10/17/2006)
God only knows why there are so many americans who hate american companies and want to see them die. Oh yea I now remember what they're called AMERICA HATING LIBERALS!
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Bob 6:51PM (10/17/2006)
If we remembered the Alamo we wouldn't by American cars made in Mexico. Good thing I own a BMW Z4 (made in Georgia) and my wife has a Honda Accord (made in Ohio) - so there are some good cars made in America. Just none from GM, Ford, or DCX.
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MITCH 6:11PM (10/17/2006)
#5 I thought it was Hummer that the American hating liberals wanted to fail :)
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AnonymousInsights 6:08PM (10/17/2006)
Pat Boone wearing doing leather and studs. Ain't workin' here.
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Scott Stretch 4:06PM (10/18/2006)
Why does everyone hate General Motors so much? I'm 17 and from Canada, and I drive a Buick Park Avenue Ultra and my parents have an Olds Aurora and a Toyota Camry.... These two brands can peacefully co-exist... You dont see me calling your Camry a piece of crap so stop calling my Buick a piece of crap!!!!!!!!!
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Jungle Fever 6:26PM (10/17/2006)
D Man...you make me and your mother very sad. I'll try to comfort her when I see her at the zoo.
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Andy 6:27PM (10/17/2006)
BMW and Mercedes compete in the same field, offering luxury sedans and sport trim levels. Cadillac already does both. Aside from the Enclave, however, I don't see a Buick vehicle coming that I would be willing to consider purchasing.
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Michael Karesh 6:20PM (10/17/2006)
Because conservatives drive domestic cars...right.
In many cases Americans hate these companies because these companies burned them with a bad product in the past. The companies could have chosen to own up to faulty engineering and provide customer assistance, but chose to lose a customer for life instead. It has happened millions of times.
And if my recent experience is in indication it's still happening. Recent experience with my wife's 2002 PT Cruiser, with 52,000 miles:
Wheels corroded badly enough to lose air, replaced for $1,000, half paid by Chrysler
Torque converter and transmission pump replaced for $1,700, assistance denied by Chrysler even after I explained how bad word-of-mouth is killing them
Still in need of repair: lower control arms ($700, poorly designed bushings), inoperative horn, remote keyless fob with poorly designed internal contacts (works for a couple days if you pull it apart and reassemble).
I might own a Chrysler again at some point. But I wouldn't blame someone else in my situation from wishing them a quick trip to the bottom.
If these companies want customers to be loyal to them, then they have to be loyal to their customers. So far this has not been the case.
As for Buick, they have one big advantage over Oldsmobile: the name doesn't scream "old."
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William S 6:20PM (10/17/2006)
GM should die? What a fool. Must be he doesn't know that GM quality is better then Toyata's. Perhaps he works for the auto magazines and others who are so desperately trying to bring down the American automotive business.
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Dun dada 6:33PM (10/17/2006)
To the old fart.....as far as losing jobs... you can't blame us. GM their sleves moved jobs to Mexico and etc. Despite if u continue to buy cars here in US it is still cheaper elsewhere. I'm not worried about losing job security cause I do accounting. Accounting is in all fields. I can never be replace by computer.
So go sit down in front of a tv and watch the Price is Right, which is full of GM / Ford vehicles they're trying to get rid of, and fart on yourself!
HA HA
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PJ 6:26PM (10/17/2006)
"God only knows why there are so many americans who hate american companies and want to see them die. Oh yea I now remember what they're called AMERICA HATING LIBERALS!"
Is it just me, or is the intellectual quality of this site going downhill *fast?* All it takes is the mere mention of an American brand name, and within five comments you've got idiots doing the why-do-you-hate-freedom dance.
/rant...
I'll second Corey's opinion that GM should position Buick against the likes of Lexus, and let Cadillac chase BMW and other sporty premium brands.
I am puzzled, though, at Buick's decision to pitch the Lucerne as a youngster's ride at SEMA. Buick should do what Cadillac did--let the big cars stay the old-folks course at first(DeVille), and give the smaller, entry-level vehicles an edgier, sportier bent (CTS, SRX). Then, as the traditional customers phase out, start sportying-up the biggies (STS, DTS).
The upcoming Enclave seems like a step in this direction. The LaCrosse, on the other hand, doesn't. It's not a bad car, but refining GM's old W-body for the umpteenth time is a weak approach if you want to attract younger, more demanding buyers.
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Will 6:34PM (10/17/2006)
#3
Toyota makes the Tundra a few miles down the road from me. Honda makes almost everything in Ohio.
A good chunk of GM, Ford, and Chrysler production is in Mexico and Canada. Most "imports" even have higher domestic parts content than the big 2.5. The jobs are already leaving, and "Detroit" did it. Go back to playing shuffleboard and stfu.
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$0.02 6:52PM (10/17/2006)
'So go sit down in front of a tv and watch the Price is Right, which is full of GM / Ford vehicles they're trying to get rid of, and fart on yourself!'
This guy drives a 2000 Nissan Sentra that he bought for 72 mos. at 14.9%, was forced to buy the Scotchguard/Pin-stripe/Window etch package and needed a co-signer. You'd be angry and rude too!!!!
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rk 7:03PM (10/17/2006)
GM employs more US autoworkers than Honda, Toyota, Nissan COMBINED so stop it with the "mexico jobs" bullshit excuse
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Corey W. 7:20PM (10/17/2006)
"BMW and Mercedes compete in the same field, offering luxury sedans and sport trim levels."
Andy, sort of... You're right, they ALL have sport trim levels but when I wanted luxury/sport, BMW, Cadillac, Infinity...etc. is the first companies that come to mind. Now if I wanted luxury/red carpet "classy" I think of MB, Lexus, Aston....etc. I wish Buick could be part of the "classy" crowd. All luxury brands are going to have their "performance" models/options, but each luxury brand has a different "overall" image.
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Nick R 7:27PM (10/17/2006)
If people don't understand the difference between companies headquartered here and companies headquartered overseas, that's just sad. Toyota and Honda can employ as many people here as they want, it's still not nearly the same to the American economy as having GM and Ford still healthy here would be.
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