Enclave brings optimism for Buick

[wildcat]

In today's Detroit Free Press, Katie Merx writes some very positive things about the Buick Enclave, and offers a couple of interesting quotes from Bob Lutz.

Mr. Lutz states, "The future of Buick does not hinge on the success of the Enclave." Rather, he said, to return Buick to its historic role as GM's "near-luxury brand" in the United States, it must continue to offer vehicles in that same vein.

"There will never again be a 'cheap Buick,'" Lutz said. "They will never again be priced down with Chevrolet.But they will offer outstanding value for the price asked."

To see the entire article click here.

[VenSeattle]

"The first four Enclaves we sold, buyers turned in a Lexus, an Acura and two Cadillacs. ... GM's goal with the Enclave was to compete with Lexus, and they have achieved their goal."

It's about damn time.

[Hollingsworth]

I drove past the Lexus dealership in a nearby town today, and I saw an Enclave in the used car section. I thought "uh oh". Hopefully this is a relatively rare occurrence.

Edited June 16, 2007 by Hollingsworth

[VenSeattle]

I drove past the Lexus dealership in a nearby town today, and I saw an Enclave in the used car section. I thought "uh oh".

Which Lexus Dealership? I'd love to check their website out to see it.

[Hollingsworth]

Lexus of Kingsport

[bowtie_dude]

Which Lexus Dealership? I'd love to check their website out to see it.

I looked at the dealer he said and its not in their used inventory.

[ZL-1]

It's about damn time.

Well, two of those trade-ins were Cadillacs. I know the example you quoted alone isn't significant, but if 50% of all trade-ins were Cadillacs, that wouldn't be good news, would it?

[VenSeattle]

Well, two of those trade-ins were Cadillacs. I know the example you quoted alone isn't significant, but if 50% of all trade-ins were Cadillacs, that wouldn't be good news, would it?

It depends actually. GM must have a strong mainstream and near-luxury product line for Cadillac to focus on the true-luxury/ultra-luxury market. Buick is attempting to capture the near-luxury market for GM. If Buick is successful, Buick will overlap (in market only) with some current Cadillac products. If Buick is successful, Cadillac will be free to continue moving higher as a true luxury brand. This is what will make $80k-$150k+ ultra-luxury Cadillacs possible.

This does not mean Cadillac needs to abandon the near-luxury market. BLS, CTS, BRX, & SRX all have their place. The near-luxury market is large enough and with enough diversified tastes for GM to provide two successful flavors of near luxury vehicles. Right now, Cadillac's near luxury vehicles are some-what compromised. They're trying to cover too much market and come across kind-of watered down. Buick's focus on one side of the market will allow Cadillac to refine its focus on the next generation of vehicles. The new 2008 CTS is a good example of Cadillac focusing more closely on what its market is. Brash, flash, edgy, attention grabbing, and technologically advanced.

[Bimmer325]

Saw my first today.

[thegriffon]

I looked at the dealer he said and its not in their used inventory.

Employee parking?

[Hollingsworth]

It was parked on the front line, closest to the road. It looked like a row of pre-owned cars, not some sort of employee or customer parking.

[AxelTheRed]

I don't want Buick to "compete" with Lexus. I want Buick to kick the crap out of Lexus. Call me biased, but I'm sick of seeing my hometown brand keep getting its ass handed to it by some Japanese upstart.

Edited June 17, 2007 by AxelTheRed

[eldiablobanshee]

It was parked on the front line, closest to the road. It looked like a row of pre-owned cars, not some sort of employee or customer parking.

maybe that Lexus dealer was doing a promotion like Saturn were you come to them to compare the competition.

[ZL-1]

It depends actually. GM must have a strong mainstream and near-luxury product line for Cadillac to focus on the true-luxury/ultra-luxury market. Buick is attempting to capture the near-luxury market for GM. If Buick is successful, Buick will overlap (in market only) with some current Cadillac products. If Buick is successful, Cadillac will be free to continue moving higher as a true luxury brand. This is what will make $80k-$150k+ ultra-luxury Cadillacs possible.

This does not mean Cadillac needs to abandon the near-luxury market. BLS, CTS, BRX, & SRX all have their place. The near-luxury market is large enough and with enough diversified tastes for GM to provide two successful flavors of near luxury vehicles. Right now, Cadillac's near luxury vehicles are some-what compromised. They're trying to cover too much market and come across kind-of watered down. Buick's focus on one side of the market will allow Cadillac to refine its focus on the next generation of vehicles. The new 2008 CTS is a good example of Cadillac focusing more closely on what its market is. Brash, flash, edgy, attention grabbing, and technologically advanced.

I understand: we don't know of those Cadillacs that were traded in were Devilles/DTS or CTS-Vs (extreme examples), and that would make a hell of a difference as someone trading in a DTS would be closer to Buick's growth space.

But it remains to be seen if Cadillac is serious in taking the upmarket approach you write about: the CTS is good news, but what if the NG STS/DTS is a dud? Would that leave Cadillac, Buick, or both brands in a pretty hard spot?

Edited June 17, 2007 by ZL-1

[Cananopie]

I understand: we don't know of those Cadillacs that were traded in were Devilles/DTS or CTS-Vs (extreme examples), and that would make a hell of a difference as someone trading in a DTS would be closer to Buick's growth space.

But it remains to be seen if Cadillac is serious in taking the upmarket approach you write about: the CTS is good news, but what if the NG STS/DTS is a dud? Would that leave Cadillac, Buick, or both brands in a pretty hard spot?

Cadillac and Chevy will have no shortage of GM funds and unless they have idiots working in those two companies they should fare well in whatever they do. It is those that are pinched for cash, mainly Saturn, Pontiac, GMC, and Buick that will need to be innovative and smart in order to retain the necessary amount of sales. Saturn, by far, is the leader in that department

[The O.C.]

I don't want Buick to "compete" with Lexus. I want Buick to kick the crap out of Lexus. Call me biased, but I'm sick of seeing my hometown brand keep getting its ass handed to it by some Japanese upstart.

Ahhhh....but it hasn't been your "home town" brand for a few years now, has it..?

[HarleyEarl]

The day that Buick becomes a Lexus clone, or in other words, souless,

listless, dull and no driver involvement, is the day I'd never buy one.

Buick needs to compete with it's own incredible past, not some

deluxe Toyota.

[Stoopsbuick]

Now all they need to do is build more faster. I'm down to 2 stock units and I think the next 5 I got coming are sold orders...not to mention I think we're only getting 3 production slots this month.

[AxelTheRed]

Ahhhh....but it hasn't been your "home town" brand for a few years now, has it..?

Buick still resonates more with Flint than it ever will with any other city, regardless of whether or not we build them.

And even though it was older than hell, it was still pretty stupid of GM to shut down their biggest factory. It made about as much sense as if Ford shut down River Rogue.

Edited June 21, 2007 by AxelTheRed