Autoblog

Through the success of the Enclave, Buick has discovered that nicely designed, well-built, high content vehicles sell. Being the first Buick in a long time to log advance orders, GM thinks it might be onto something with the Enclave formula. That recipe consists of bolder styling than past Buicks, with cues coming from the Velite and Riviera show cars. Avoiding retro, forthcoming Buicks promise to amp up the curbside drama with unabashed curves, and a lot of chrome. The Enclave has an interior that was obviously fussed over, too. If Buick can turn out a car using the same discipline that guided the successful Enclave launch, it should be exciting to watch the brand reinflate. Both the Riviera and Velite concepts have striking, tight designs that are nothing like the blobby, amorphous Buicks of the recent past. The Lucerne is a stylistic step in the right direction, and with a new LaCrosse due soon, we might start to see the return of stylish GM sedans that people clamor to buy. We'll get some indication soon, when we see what Buick brings to Detroit.

Follow the jump to see the Velite's unveiling at the 2004 New York Auto Show.

[Source: AutoObserver]

A creative Buick dealer is celebrating the brand's performance in J.D. Power's 2007 Vehicle Dependability Study that was released yesterday, in which it tied Lexus for the top spot, by putting together an amusing little viral that stars the Buick Lucerne CST SEMA concept from 2006. The car was prepared by Stainless Steel Brakes Corp. of Clarence, NY, and was one of many Lucernes GM sent to the show last year. You can see the full inventory of upgrades along with the aforementioned video created by Alfred Matthews Motorsports after the jump. Believe us, it's worth it, beyotch!

UPDATE: The video's been yanked. Lame.

[Source: YouTube]

You don't need no stinkin' Volvo to experience BLIS(s) -- for 2008, the Buick Lucerne is fitted with lane departure and blind-spot warning systems. The Lucerne offers classic GM big-sedan ethos, with lots of content, wide, cushy seats and restrained, handsome styling. Now, when you're motorvating down the interstate, listening to your Buick 8, an amber lamp will illuminate in the gauge cluster, and a chime will toll three times to indicate you're about to encroach on someone else's road space. If one of the ever present morons on the road decides to hang out in your blind spot, the Lucerne uses proximity sensors behind the rear fascia to detect the car and warn you with an indicator in the side mirror. Buick's safety gear will also be offered on Cadillac's STS and DTS, making GM Luxury that much safer. Now if they could just develop a "blinker on for the last 60 miles" warning system, or a "stay the hell out of the fast lane if you're doing 53 1/2 MPH" light in the cluster, we'd be good. Okay, okay, we'll admit, the stereotyping is stale. Maybe we're just mellowing with time, but we appreciate the merits of a Lucerne.

[Source: Edmunds]

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in Arlington, Va. has just concluded testing on some 75 vehicles' head restraint systems and after performing a simulated rear-end impact of 20 MPH, only 22 of the systems received the top score of "good."

At the head of the class was Audi's A4, S4 and A6, along with the Chevy Cobalt, Ford Five Hundred (Taurus, whatever) and its Mercury counterpart, Honda's Civic, Hyundai Sonata, Jag S-Type, Kia Optima, Merc E-class, Nissan Sentra and its lesser sibling the Versa, Subaru's Impreza, Legacy and Outback, as well as Volvo's S40, S60 and S80 (no surprise).

The flunkees included the Acura TSX, BMW 5-series, Buick LaCrosse and Lucerne, Caddy CTS, DTS and STS, Chevy's Aveo, the Honda Fit and Accord, Infiniti's M35, the Jaguar X-Type, Kia Rio, Mitsubishi Galant, Pontiac's Grand Prix, plus the Toyota Avalon and Corrolla.

Considering that the IIHS estimates that the injuries sustained to the back and neck in these types of collisions costs insurance companies around $8 mbillion dollars per year, their interest in the matter is obvious. Whether or not consumers will include this in their purchasing criteria is another matter however.

[Source: IIHS]

After 50 years on the shelf, Buick is dusting off the 'Super' name for upcoming variants of the Lucerne and Lacrosse. Due to be unveiled in New York next week, the two vehicles will receive more power and an upgraded chassis, in addition to exclusive content and upgraded trim. A Buick spokesman did reveal that the Lacrosse Super will have portholes on the front fenders while the base Lacrosse will not. The Enclave may be the next Buick in the lineup to get the 'Super' treatment, but GM brass has yet to make a final determination.

We like the fact that Buick's making the effort to spice up the brand, and it's nice to know that your grandfather will soon be able to hit 60 in the high fives if the need presents itself.

[Source: Automotive News (subscription req'd)]

UPDATE 1: Added photos of the Lucernes assembled en masse.
UPDATE 2: All images now link to hires copies

Wow, GM's bringing so many Buicks to SEMA, we're giving them a showcase post all their own. Hell bent on getting the message across that the Buick brand isn't just for Sansabelt-wearing retirees anymore, the General has dispatched -- count 'em -- eleven Lucernes prepared by different customizers. We're still wrapping our heads arounf the idea of Buick being modded this way. Some of the cars fare better than others, but the point of the exercise is to show what the Lucerne looks like when taken in directions you wouldn't normally associate with Buick. Mission accomplished.

The best Buick at SEMA may well be a throwback, however, as the '64 Electra 225 convertible (above) that will lead the pack of Lucernes headed to SEMA. Fully restored and looking bone stock save for the chromed 20" Boss Motorsports wheels filling the cutouts. Looks, however, can be very decieving, as this Electra is anything but stock underhood, where a GM Performance Parts ZZ572 crate engine resides. Its 620 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque are more than enough to give the white ragtop a distinct advantage at any stoplight grand prix.

So, now that you've been briefed, check out all the cars and their associated press materials after the jump.

[Source: GM]


Related Posts:

• GM's SEMA Showcase #1: Truckin'
• GM SEMA Showcase #2: Cars

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]

The dedicated General Motors supporters at GMInsideNews are tired of waiting for GM to come up with the compelling model lineups that will propel its brands back to market leadership, so they've taken matters into their own hands, with a minisite called Revitalization in Action.

The first marque to receive the group's revitalization efforts is Buick, once tagged by Bob Lutz as one of GM's "damaged brands." The GMI group's product ideas are based on an encyclopedic knowledge of GM drivetrain and chassis architectures, as well as finely tuned Photoshop skills, and include the Buick Roadmaster Coupe shown above - theoretically based on GM's new Zeta RWD platform and proposed for a 2009 rollout as a next generation Lucerne. (We have to admit, the storied Roadmaster name carries much more weight than Lucerne...)

Read about the rest of the Buick dream lineup here, and stay tuned for the group's efforts for GM's other brands.

[Source: GMInsideNews]

In the world of large sedans* equipped with side airbags, some do a better job than others at protecting occupants according to the latest results from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Achieving the top score of "good" are the Chevrolet Impala and Toyota Camry (this serious group of testers does not issue any scores of "excellent" or "exceptional" or even "super marvelous"). The Buick Lucerne and Hyundai Azera both earned an "acceptable" rating, while the Chrysler 300 and Buick LaCrosse came in with a "marginal" score.

The IIHS points out the importance of side-impact test scores by noting that in collisions involving modern vehicles, more drivers die in side impacts than in collisions of the frontal nature. Indeed, with the dramatic improvement in frontal protection, most vehicles now receive a rating of "good" from the institute in this measure of performance, with the most significant distinctions in safety now being in the realm of side impact protection.

*Concerning the comments that came up during our last post on "large cars" - we're not the ones who call these "large sedans", as that assessment is made by the EPA. We know that a Lucerne is not as large as your grandpa's Electra 225. We're also aware that it is no longer 1965.

[Source: IIHS; more info from the institute is posted after the jump]

The Wall Street Journal is reporting on a rather disturbing trend among younger buyers of new and used cars - the tendency to buy outside of the culturally acceptable boundaries of age and generation. Why, there's an absolute epidemic of young adults, some not even yet out of their teens, cruising around in Oldsmobile Cutlass Supremes, Buick Park Avenues, and Chevrolet Caprices! Buick's Lucerne appears to be one of the heirs to the throne currently occupied by Chrysler's 300C, and there are more than a few youngsters roaming around Cadillac, Lexus, and Lincoln dealerships as well.  

We mock the WSJ only because this isn't a new trend (despite the CNW marketing data - specifically, its "stodgy index" - that shows the emergence of this buying habit). The release of the Chevrolet Impala SS in 1994 attracted buyers that were an amazing 10 years younger than typical Caprice owners, and lit off a B-body customization craze that continues today. Older RWD cars, including the large number of retired police cruisers that hit the market every year, are a blank canvas for the custom crowd. Want to throw it on bags and "lay frame"? No problem. Do you have a desire, as misplaced as it may be, to lift your car four feet and throw on a set of monstrous 28s? Go right ahead - it's as easy as lifting a pickup truck. There's also some serious performance potential. And for those going for a more subdued look, a clean set of dubs on an mid-nineties Buick Riv or Ford* Lincoln Continental is an easy and affordable way to stand out from the sport-compact crowd while still giving yourself and three or four friends plenty of room to stretch out during road trips. Of course, there's an ironic tinge to all this, what with so many pensioners going after 'youth brand' cars like the Scion xB.

In the interest of full disclosure, it should be noted that the author of this Autoblog post owns two vehicles with wire-spoke hubcaps and stand-up hood ornaments.

[Source: The Wall Street Journal]

*Thanks to the reader who pointed out my error - apparently, driving old-people cars can also cause slight dementia.