Buick

[carman21]

I personally think the Buick is best suited taking on Toyota, Nissan & Honda. Buick would be wise to compete directly against these big brands. Today, Buick is ripe to take a big chunk out of a market the grosses at least 4 million in sales every year. So, Buick could make a killing.

Buick's Advantages Are:

1)Award Winning Quality

2)Established Premium Creditials.

3)A Large Dealer Network

4)Plenty of Oppurtunity to expand into new segments.

5)Is Cross-shopped largely by Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mercury, Chrysler, & other premium brand buyers.

6)A rapidly decling median buyer age. It declined from 74 to 69 from the late '90s to the early '00s. It is likely even lower now.

These are just some advantages that I can think of at the moment. If you can think of more please say so.

Here's my plan for Buick. Keep Buick upscale by staying away from cheaper veicles such as subcompacts & other entry vehicles. I see Pontiac taking up the lower end role in the Buick/Pontiac/GMC network.Pontiac would take on Hyundai with a slightly different American twist. GMC would also target Toyota with very competitive BOF midsize & fullsize SUVs. GMC would sell both a BOF light pick-up & a Unibody Light Pick-up. GMC would only sell BOF full-size Pick-ups. GMC's CUVs would be designed for more offroad applications. BOF midsize SUVs would be designed more for off-road use as Lambda CUVs fill the void for car-like BOF SUVs.

Buick will target just about every segment in Toyota, Nissan, & Honda's line-ups.

Buick Excelle=Toyota Corolla=Nissan Sentra=Honda Civic

Buick Allure=Toyota Camry=Nissan Altima=Honda Accord

Buick Lucerne=Toyota Avalon=Missan Maxima=Honda Inspire*

Buick Signia?=Toyota Rav4=Nissan =Honda CR-V

Buick Enclave=Toyota Highlander=Nissan Murano=Honda Pilot

Buick Terraza=Toyota Sienna=Nissan Quest=Honda Odyssey

Buick Velite=Toyota Supra=Nissan Z=Acura NSX

Buick Invicta=Chrysler 300

* Note that the Inspire is actually a Japanese version of our Accord, it is sold as a competitor of the Nissan Teana(basically the Japanese Maxima). The Honda Inspire would likely be similar to the US market Avalon & Maxima

Based on all this I would easliy predict a 400% sales increase by ten years from now. This growth rate is very conservative, it can be far higher. GM's hometeam advantage usually translates into when two products are percieved equally there will be greater volume with the domestic product.Please tell me what you think.

[ehaase]

Sorry, but it's Chevrolet's job to compete with Toyota, Honda, and Nissan. Buick is better off sticking with its niche of large, comfortable , upper middle class American cars like the Lucerne and Enclave.

[buickguy]

Nissan, Honda, and Toyota are not premium upscale.

[carman21]

Ok, points taken. I just think that Pontiac/Buick/GMC would thwart Toyota far better than Chevy. Chevrolet & Toyota are very different brands. Think about it. If Chevy really intends to take on Toyota then why is the Malibu prices for thousands less and have less features. The fact is that GM has no true Camry fighter until it gets a Buick Midsizer.

Toyota is now premium or upscale when compared to Chevy. A Camry XLE V-6 compared to a Chev Malibu LTZ V-6 is almost as bad as comparing a Camry XLE V-6 to a loaded ES350. I hope I cleared things a bit more.

[ehaase]

Unfortunately, the current Malibu's closest competitor is probably the Kia Optima. The Hyundai Sonata is a far superior car. GM sure let a lot of people down, after years of high hopes for the Epsilon platform. Hopefully, Chevrolet will make the next Malibu something special that can compete with the Camry, but we've gotten our hopes up too high in the past.

[balthazar]

I do not shop nor have investigated the segment, but I always thought the camry and the impala were in the same segment, not camry/Malibu. Isn't the average Malibu much cheaper than the average camry, not to mention being notably smaller??

[GMFAN83]

Some Good Point Carman, I think Buick could do well against Toyota.

The Camry is 189 inches long and the Malibu is 188inches long. The Malibu is Priced from $16-20k for most models, except the V-6 LTZ & SS which are aroun $23k. The Impala is closer to the Camry's pricing but it is 200inches long or nearly a foot longer than the Camry. On value the Impala is better but, I still want a Malibu that takes on Camry already.

[pow]

Ok, points taken. I just think that Pontiac/Buick/GMC would thwart Toyota far better than Chevy. Chevrolet & Toyota are very different brands. Think about it. If Chevy really intends to take on Toyota then why is the Malibu prices for thousands less and have less features. The fact is that GM has no true Camry fighter until it gets a Buick Midsizer.

Toyota is now premium or upscale when compared to Chevy. A Camry XLE V-6 compared to a Chev Malibu LTZ V-6 is almost as bad as comparing a Camry XLE V-6 to a loaded ES350. I hope I cleared things a bit more.

Toyota is definitely "mainstream", not "premium". It's just that Chevy is "economy".

I guess the problem with upgrading the Malibu to Camry levels and Camry pricing is that GM won't have a product for the bargain-oriented to compete against the other second-tier cars. I guess that's what Suzuki is for?

[Flybrian]

Malibu would cover the lower end of the Camry's segement, Impala the upper end as well as most of the Avalon's.

I don't think GM needs to build benchmark competitors. Its lame, unoriginal, and pointless.

[pow]

Malibu would cover the lower end of the Camry's segement, Impala the upper end as well as most of the Avalon's.

I don't think GM needs to build benchmark competitors. Its lame, unoriginal, and pointless.

But wouldn't it be more cost efficient to have just one midsize Chevy family sedan? Let the Impala be the full-on, rear-drive, V-8... Impala.

[Flybrian]

But wouldn't it be more cost efficient to have just one midsize Chevy family sedan? Let the Impala be the full-on, rear-drive, V-8... Impala.

I really see that happening with the Zeta or what-have-you. Malibu will grow in size on Epsilon II to somewhere between Epsilon I and the MS2000 W-body Impala while the Impala itself makes the leap to fullsize RWD with pricing more or less as is.

I'd expect (hope?) to see a wider selection of Malibu models with varied engine/transmission combos (Ecotec to hi-po SS V6) and a more limited range of Impalas with a Lucerne-esque structure - LS base V6, LTZ V6/V8, SS hi-poV8.

Right now, its transitional. Remember, there used to be a Cavalier/Corsica/Lumina/Caprice heirarchy until that was supplanted by the Cavalier/Malibu/Impala. There was just nothing really crowing the lineup for about eight years until the s/c Impala SS in '04 and today's V8 SS. I think the Cobalt/Malibu/Impala lineup can work out beautifully if done right. Three nice choices, none too similar, and a nice variety within each model.

[thegriffon]

Malibu would cover the lower end of the Camry's segement, Impala the upper end as well as most of the Avalon's.

I don't think GM needs to build benchmark competitors. Its lame, unoriginal, and pointless.

But the only way to be truly competitive in most segments. It's a matter of recognizing what the benchmark should be. In some cases sure, you can redefine a segment as Opel did with the Zafira (not an original product as Mitsubishi and Nissan had products in that segment over 20 years ago, but the right product at the right time), but usually you won't reach the full potential by offering something "different". There are numerous examples of which fail to meet the segment benchmark and suffer as a result:

Toyota Echo/Yaris

A2 RAV4 (Corrected by A3 RAV4 which doubled sales)

X1 and X2 Avalon (Corrected by X3 Avalon)

E11 and E12 Corolla Spacio (Corrected by E13 Corolla Verso)

Chevrolet Equinox/Pontiac Torrent (the Value proposition doesn't work, it just costs money. The XL7, with 7 seats and a much higher price, should be an embarrassly successful product for such a small brand)

The Vue was ahead of its time, ironically it's now perfectly positioned and sales are growing as it ages instead of declining as a result.

The GMT 960s? Perfectly positioned against the fullsize CX-9, Pacifica and Freestyle, but sales will never match the midsize bencharks (so bye-bye Freestyle, hello Edge).

Lexus IS300—sporty and cheap, but way too small, corrected with the IS350, which is flying of the lots as a result.

STS—cheaper and larger than a 5-series or E-Class, but struggling for sales. Neither fish nor fowl it's closest to an LS430, which goes away so the LS460L can chase the money upscale.

Original M45—too cramped for the segment, no V6. New M35/M45? Perfect. Shot down the GS last month, now gunning for the E-Class.

CTS—too big to win against the nimble 3-series, too small and cheap to win against the new 5-Series. Thus we have the BLS for Europeans, and cheap versions of the CTS may go bye-bye.

Acura RL—a V6 with the power and price of a V8? Unfortunately competitors offer a V6 with the power of a V8 at the price of a V6. Try again.

Saab 9-2, Volvo V50, Audi A3—apparently there is a compact luxury segment after all. Unfortunately in the US it's only for sedans, not wagons.

Edited April 27, 2006 by thegriffon

[GMFAN83]

Benchmarks are important. If you navigate them well you can find huge success.

[thegriffon]

…Malibu will grow in size on Epsilon II to somewhere between Epsilon I and the MS2000 W-body Impala while the Impala itself makes the leap to fullsize RWD with pricing more or less as is. …

At current Impala pricing there will be no architecture-formerly-known-as-Zeta Impala. At the minimum it will be a V6 at a mid-level 300 (Touring) price, if not higher. After all, An Azera SE starts at over $24K.