What is Buick's plan?

[Sal Collaziano]

I may be out of touch - so if I'm off base here, please let me know.. I hear the Buick Lucerne is gone along with the Cadillac DTS. I also hear the Buick LaCrosse is growing - so maybe IT will fill the shoes of the Lucerne. Now we see the Buick Regal making a return - which is a little smaller than the LaCrosse..

It looks to me like Buick isn't going to have a full-size car very soon. Maybe I'm wrong. At any rate, the new LaCrosse looks excellent - so they'll have a fairly large midsize car there.. The Regal looks great as well - so they'll have a competitive midsize car to compete with the Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Toyota Camry and Hyundai Sonata..

But that's where it ends.. Unless Buick wants to fade away into history, they need an excellent, small entry-level vehicle that young people aspire to own. While the Regal is very nice - it's for a more mature audience. Where's Buick's Lexus IS (or Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, etcetera)? They need something small with a 4 cylinder engine and modification potential.

Cadillac has the CTS. Well, it HAD the CTS. The CTS is now a bit more than an "entry-level" sedan (even though it still IS entry-level for now). A new smaller Cadillac is on the way to take the original CTS's place. This is the kind of car that brings in new customers. Which vehicle is this for Buick? I don't see *ANY* young people in a LaCrosse..

So what's the plan? Does anybody have any idea?

[Sal Collaziano]

Does anybody at ALL care about Buick's future?

[m/w]

Damn it yes i do . I own 2 buick powered vehicles with buick engines not the newer ones with chevy or olds engines. That said my personal bitch with GM is that their parts cost way to much . I can go to the city ( 1hr) and buy the exact same ac-delco part from bumper to bumper way cheaper , especially big name items (Rads) .If the parts were even in the ball park 10 to 50 more i would shop local but i usually wait till i have a good list of parts & buy in the city. I think this is one of the generals bad points , I realize money is made on parts but couldn't they charge less & make up the difference in sales volume? There thats my rant Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.Later bake

[TDIXON]

I myself have a buick and i love my car. I would really like to see them come out with a new Skylark as i have owned several in the past yrs. But i guess theres a fat chance on that.

[Krzdimond]

Care? YES! Understand if it goes? Yes. Here lies the problem as I see it. GM has 57 some odd models in their lineup and is looming on bankruptcy. The way it USED to be was Cadillac was top dog and Chevy was the value line. Buick was nothing more than a Caddy in Chevy clothing and the Olds was a Chevy in Caddy clothing. Olds is gone. Pontiac, the "sport" division, is seeing it's own difficulties. Talks are ongoing about selling off Hummer and Saturn. Is there REALLY a nich for Buick anymore? I think so. GM could get by with a 3 tier lineup. Chevy for value, Buick for Mid level, and Caddy for the luxury brand. Hell, the Japanese and Europeans are THRIVING on a 2 tier lineup!

Buick CAN survive if GM moves away from the dreaded "brand engineering", I mean, c'mon, who are they kidding? The '02 Grand Prix, Impala, AND Monte carlo are the SAME car!!!


OK, that's it for me......

I need Decaf.......


{/rant-off}

[Thanatos]

While I agree that Buick is majorly attractive to the older class, the last thing I EVER want to see is some highschool kid flaunting his new buick 4-banger that hauls so much ass because it has a 3" coffee can on the back.
If it's a fuel economy thing, imo a 4 cylinder doesn't enough of an economy increase to warrant the lack of power I feel comfortable with.

Maybe I'm just too young to fully understand, but I'd personally sooner see Buick die off, than see the company fall into the mini/mid size eco car craze.

If they want to compete, they should make a kickass looking, and actually comfortable Hybrid that rivals Toyota and Honda price tags.


Just my .02

[blackroadmonster]

i am highly doubting buick is going to be going anywhere unless the worst happens. the brand really does need a new flagship vehicle and i am sure that it will get one, i only wish it would be on zeta. Is the combining of the sts/dts still on, and if so maybe then we'll have a new large sedan? if only they would bring over the park ave. also a smaller buick is needed but still needs to be up class.

[IMPALADAKID]

I am not sure what is going on over at Buick. I was told by a freind in the buisness that GM is looking to drop or sell off Pontiac, Saturn, Saab, and Hummer. The plan is to keep Chevrolet as their bread and butter, Cadillac, and Buick. But I have heard rumor that GM is selling off Buick. Who knows?
But my thoughts on Buick is this.
As far back as I can remember, Buick has always catered to the 50+ croud, with a car or two aimed at the younger buyer to get them buying Buicks.
Now it seems Buick has gone in another direction by building only cars aimed at the younger buyer. To me it would seem with all the baby boomers, this is a bad decision, and slow sales of Buick is not only a sign of the times, but a sign that Buick went off track with it's loyal customers.
People like familiar names, and over the past few years, names like century, lasaber, and regal have all disappeared.

[Thanatos]

Now if they'd only bring back the boat tail Riviera. . . /dreams

[Sal Collaziano]

The STS/DTS is still on, but it's delayed indefinitely. It wont be as big as the DTS - which to me, is not good. I like full-size vehicles. I think a Buick (or a Cadillac) without one is bad...

As for Buick building vehicles for a younger audience - that's just not happening. The Lucerne and current LaCrosse are not selling to young people. Buick NEEDS to start selling to young people. They NEED a small car that's priced like a true entry-level luxury vehicle. If they don't start earning themselves some new customers, who's going to buy Buicks when all their current clients aren't there to make purchases anymore? Sure, there will still be A FEW older people buying Buicks for the first time - but not enough to keep the brand afloat.

Yes, I miss the old names as well. It looks like Regal is on it's way back - and who knows? Maybe one day we'll get lucky and have the Park Avenue back (it's currently only for sale in China). The Riviera name certainly isn't dead... So while the names are gone, the cars made only for old people are still here.

Today's Grand National doesn't have to be what it was in the past. We need something that young people to aspire to own.