In the tradition of TTAC’s august founder, it’s time to do some old-fashioned myth busting about General Motors. Specifically, we’re going to talk about a myth that many of you were perpetrating in the comments of our first installment in our new Buick Death Watch series — specifically the fallacy that Buick GMC dealers “need to have Buick to have cars to sell,” or that “dealers would sue GM if they killed Buick.”
Not even, man.
I mean, if they had ever sold that bad-ass Avista pictured up there, then maybe, but Buick’s car lineup has left much to be desired in the eyes of consumers and dealers. I’ll explain a component of General Motors’ dealer compensation called “Standards For Excellence” to you, and then we’ll look at charts and numbers and data and stuff. Ready to have your preconceived notions challenged? GO!
First, let’s talk about Standards For Excellence, or SFE, as most GM dealers call it. SFE is a program that pays significant bonuses to GM dealers based on a number of ever-moving targets. I haven’t seen a PDF of the 2018 dealer program (although the employee program appears to be another humiliating kick in the crotch) so there may be some differences from 2017 that I’m not aware of.
However, for the last couple of years, it’s been like so: dealers are required to meet OEM targets for each brand they sell. For example, a Chevrolet dealer only has to meet Chevrolet targets, but a Buick GMC Cadillac dealer has to meet three different targets — a Buick target, a GMC target, and a Cadillac target. These used to be quarterly targets, but GM switched them to monthly targets a couple of years ago, meaning a dealer couldn’t make up for a bad January with a good February. Then, the company made a further change stating that a dealer had to sell one more vehicle than they did in the same period as the previous year to qualify — if you sold 15 Buicks in February of 2016, you had to sell 16 Buicks in February of 2017. Capiche? Good.
K, now imagine that you’re a Buick GMC dealer, and you have to hit both a Buick and a GMC target every month. The GMC targets aren’t so bad — after all, GMC is a popular brand with the horse racing and oil baron set in flyover country, but Buick is a tough nut to crack. In fact, it’s amazing how many GMC Acadia intenders end up buying Enclaves or Envisions instead on the last weekend of the month (thanks to some industrious dealers). I won’t name names, but I’ve been told by several dealers that they flip GMC customers to Buick CUVs all the time, as incentives are typically higher on Buicks.
Wouldn’t those customers largely be better served and be happier with the GMCs they want to buy instead of the Buicks they are convinced to buy? But what about the cars, man? GMC dealers have to have cars, right?
Nah.
I did some digging into the registration data of my home state, Kentucky. These are publically available numbers, btw, in most states. I took them and I threw them into a data visualization program. Keep in mind, Kentucky should be prime Buick territory — very little brand snobbery, high “buy American” quotient, and most of the money is “old money.” Here’s all the Buicks registered in the last 12 months of sales in KY:
A quick tabulation will show you that cars accounted for only 17 percent of Buick sales in the Bluegrass last year — the rest were CUVs, and almost half were the decidedly non-premium, staring at $22,900, Buick Encore.
So, assuming you could rebrand those CUVs as GMCs and likely gain sales volume due to the superior perception of the GMC brand, do Buick dealers really need cars to sell? Let’s see how the top performing Buick dealers in the state did in volume in the last year.
Ouch. This is the Buick registration data from the top Buick dealer in Kentucky. They had a couple of months where they didn’t even break double digits in total Buick registrations. Now, let’s see how they did if we make it just cars, and exclude all CUVs.
You’re reading the data correctly — there was only one month where they hit double digits, and there were a couple of months where they sold one. I looked at every Buick GMC dealer in Kentucky, and I couldn’t find another dealer that registered more than four passenger cars in any month.
These are the Buick car registrations for the second, third, and fourth highest volume Buick dealers in KY. I think we could call these “not very good.”
So, no, GMC dealers don’t need cars to sell, because they’re not actually selling any. In fact, they probably groan every time they sell a Buick car, because now it means they have to sell one more than that to get their bonus next year. The only Buicks they are selling could easily be relabeled as GMCs. Call the Encore the “Activia” and get Jamie Lee Curtis to promote it. GMC could even go upmarket with an Activia Denali for $35k and it would be a smash hit.
Let’s consider this myth busted, shall we?
[Image: Steve Fecht for Buick]
Buick might not need any CARS in it’s lineup. Sales have gotten worse with each successive generation of Buick sedans. Buick is just in the worst part of the market for sedan sales. Even though their customers probably earn similar money, there is big difference between a Buick buyer and a GMC buyer.
As for strong arming GMC customers into Buicks, the loss of space in the new shrunken Acadia probably makes flipping customers to the larger Enclave not that hard.
Not uncommon to jump from thr small Acadia to thr bigger Enclave. We have a friend’s that went in to return their Acadia lease for another that they liked the so much to find out that they paid the same for a smaller version.
Bark M example is like taking one sale month and claiming the namplate or brand a success or failure. Why not tap Jack’s presence in Ohio where there are more than double the Buick dealers compared to KY. The sample size is small and does include cross state line shoppers where incentives could be better or geographic areas where incentives are different.
The Buick incentive strong hold and volume mover is just north west of KY in IN, IL, MO, might provide a better sampling.
Face it, Buick doesn’t make the LeSabre or Park Avenue with back seats grandma can get into anymore, so people buy SUVs she CAN get into, though sometimes she needs a stool or a relative to lift her up or down.
With low rooflines, even the front seats are a chore for leading-edge baby boomers in their late 60s and early 70s. My pushing-86 aunt can’t even get into the back seat of my sister’s 2018 Forester, though she was able to get into the back seat of her kid brother’s classic ’65 Continental.
what about those of us who do not like SUV’s ? What about the stand alone Buick dealers, I have a few near me in metro NY and what happens when gas gets around to hitting $4.00 a gallon and or SUV fall out a favor. If Buick cars are increasingly going to more China centric how much does it really cost to have them here? Putting all your eggs in one basket is a bad decision.
People who like sedans are not a big enough market to care. Their answer to people who like sedans (and I like sedans) is going to be: buy used if you won’t buy a new CUV.
I remember when somebody like Andy Ihnatko asked Gil Amelio to have Apple do something special, and his response was: Sure, if you’ve got 10,000 friends who will pre-order it.
We don’t have 10,000 friends who will buy a Buick sedan.
When they need something, if the CUVs aren’t efficient enough, and if they cannot get a friendly White House to do them a favor, they will do what they have done: they will find something else and rebadge it like a compliance car.
One- someone has to buy the sedan or lease it new before anyone can buy it used and my point was they make them for the Chinese market so how much more does it cost to sell them here , hence your compliance car.
Or, now hear me out, you could just buy a loaded Chevy or a discounted Caddy. Gasp! Buick isn’t the only GM division with cars in its lineup! Its just the worst at selling them.
But, gas prices will be sky high in no time and there is no way in hell they can bring back cars they discontinued, if demand for them rematerializes.
“Call the Encore the “Activia” and get Jamie Lee Curtis to promote it. GMC could even go upmarket with an Activia Denali for $35k and it would be a smash hit.”
The Buick Ensure?
The Buick Ensure?
As a resident old fart I appreciate the laugh.
Would the MSRP of brown ones be lower?
(Even better with a stick and Diesel, methinks?)
At least there wouldn’t be the usual complaints about “three shades of gray, black, white, WTF!!”
” GMC dealers don’t need cars to sell, because they’re not actually selling any ” Well, duh? They discontinued their highest volume passenger car, and that was sales numbers BEFORE the apparent 2nd generation was almost due to arrive, and at the time without any advertising worthy of the term. So instead of launching a new near luxury compact, what do they do? Cancel the car entirely! Your numbers show a dwindling leftover of a cancelled car and base everything off of that. In short, Buick made so many bad decisions that created the inevitable outcome.
“if they had ever sold that bad-ass Avista pictured up there” YES, a 1000x Yes.
isn’t your argument for cutting Buick cars, not the brand? and aren’t they already planning to drop to 2 car models?
His argument is twofold:
– Yes, the cars are dead weight. They should just go, from a dealer perspective.
– There may be higher brand cachet with GMC that would allow folding the remaining three Buick CUVs into the GMC line, since dealers are having to flip from GMC to Buick to move them today.
How about:
-Smart death watch the brand is almost gone already
-Mini death watch
-Fiat death watch
-Mitsubishi death watch line up competes to heavily with Nissan
-Hyundai/KIA pick one kill the other
-Acura death watch free Honda to go more up market
-Chrysler death watch no need for the 300 and Pacifica could be sold as a Dodge
When we finally get down to 4 or 5 brands why do will we need an automotive press?
Agreed on Smart, Mini, Fiat, Chrysler, and maybe Acura.
Don’t agree on Mitsubishi or Hyundai/Kia. Mitsubishi has enjoyed constant growth for several years, and H/K has a plan, at least, with each brand being distinct.
WHy Mini it sells well in Europe?
TSTAG,
If that is your thought Buick must stay , they sell a ton in China.
@seth1065
“Buick must stay, they sell a ton in China” is exactly why the brand still exists in the USA.
Selling well in Europe says nothing about the business case for selling a brand in the US.
SCE to Aux
Q: How do you make God laugh?
A: Tell him your plans
H/K Accent/Rio; Elantra/Forte; Sonata/Optima; Tucson/Sportage; Santafe/Sorento; the few remaining products that sell could be incorporated into either brand. So whats the real difference?
Mitsubishi-growth 5 years straight; profits 0 any new products in development would sell much better with a Nissan badge. keeping the brand around is expensive and pointless.
Smart is already gone
Mine is still around, just lost.
Fiat is fine, it’s Dodge and Chrysler that are dying
Mitsu has been dead a long time now.
Hyundai and Kia are not going anywhere.
Acura won’t die until Honda decides they’re done with it.
And you do realize GM by itself is still 4 of your 5 brands?
npaladin 2000
I was thinking 4 or 5 mega-companies each with 1 brand would be the end result.
Never happen. GM is addicted to branding. Even under a bankruptcy they only managed to trim themselves to 4 brands. And they’re probably already looking for excuses to create a couple more. It’s just what they do.
Who says we need an automotive press NOW?
This month Motor Trend reviews slightly larger than compact but not quite midsize crossovers with 2.0 turbo motors and CVT transmissions!
Stay tuned next month for an exiting shootout of very slightly larger than midsize crossovers also with 2.0 turbo power and CVT transmissions!
No no no no. Those brands get a free pass. It’s GM that TTAC wants dead and gone. You know because less choice apparently is a good thing is this bizzare world we live in. NOT
Maybe it’s just the idea that not all of those choices should come from GM? Since they’re not really choices anyway.
Bring back the Park Avenue and Riviera. Drop in the supercharged 3800, bada bing, bada boom, Buick’s back.
I’m sure they still have the tooling lying around.
Corey teases me, but I still want a ’99 Buick Riviera Silver Arrow.
I’d also love a ’63, a ’68, a ’72, an ’85, and a ’93.
You should buy one!
Silver Arrows are a tall order, but a G-body Riv is still possible (or E-body with the boat tail rear after MY89).
That’s what people said about the Continental.
See how that worked out for Lincoln.
Why, when there are hundreds of thousands of low mileage used examples still selling for 1/10th MSRP?
What is it with people’s obsession with trying to turn back the hands of time?
“What is it with people’s obsession with trying to turn back the hands of time?”
Because some people – many people – don’t like CUVs and prefer driving sedans. It isn’t demand for sedans that sucks, it’s the sends car makers are offering that suck.
The GM brand combinations always seemed a bit goofy to me. When my SAAB convertible died from multiple mechanical afflictions, I visited the local Cadillac dealer lot (closest to house) because he had a good used car selection of GM sedans. He had the earlier generation Cadillac CTS, some Chevrolet Impalas, a Chevrolet Cruze, and some Buick Regals. The non-Caddy cars were all former fleet cars. I bought a Regal and have been very happy with it. (I would have purchased an Impala but it wouldn’t fit in my garage.) This dealership appears to live/die of their used sales because other than Escalades they don’t appear to be moving many new sedans off their lot. I wondered why Buick and Cadillac didn’t co-exist. This dealer used to be Cadillac-Olds. The car market is gagging on too many sedans. After seeing how the new Lacrosse is faring (not well), it would not surprise me if Buick went under the waves. Right now their site is plugging 16% off MSRP. The 2018 Regal has me scratching my head…is the new sport wagon a Subaru?
Yes TourX is supposed to be a Subaru/Volvo XC competitor. The automotive press whines that there isn’t enough ground clearance for that. (5.1 inches compared to the Subarus 8 in.)
Personally that lack of ground clearance is why I like it. I know that the TourX is secretly a turbo AWD wagon (yes I know, no manual) that Subaru won’t give us in the United States. I’ll certainly have to test drive one.
It’s not just the press complaining about the low ground clearance. We looked at the new TourX and ground clearance was the only factor for not pulling the trigger. Shortly after we had ten inches of snow drop and that TourX would have been a plow that morning. That ground clearance would also make simple dirt trails a task in my surroundings area. We walked away from that dealer saying who makes these decisions for Buick. They obviously don’t think about that people buying their product. We now have dealers stocked with that TourX , $4-5 on the hood. And I’ve yet to see a TourX on the road. I foresee fleet sales is the only option for the TourX. This is all when my local Subaru dealers are so busy on Saturday’s that you have to make an appointment or get inline to talk to a sales personal.
Tata death watch.
Skoda death watch.
LADA death watch.
Tesla death watch.
Dick Tracy radio wristwatch.
The rest of GM is Buick’s problem, not its passenger cars. Buick’s SUV line is a mundane redundancy when examined against the GMC lineup, and its passenger cars offer nothing that Cadillac doesn’t do better, and for nearly the same money.
It’s telling that dealers have to resort to convincing consumers to purchase a vehicle different to the one that they actually want to buy.
GMC doesn’t have an Encore as the smallest is the Terrain, similar size as the Envision and Equinox as they share the same platform.
Having ridden in both GMC and Buick, thr GMC has a rougher, truck ride with stiffer springs and less seat cushioning. For me the ride refinement is worth the difference in going with Buock as the handling and power outputs are the same.
I think the evidence here shows that “Buick cars aren’t selling at all in the state of Kentucky.” The rest is at the stage of educated opinion, or if we’re being charitable, a working theory. Loved the graphs. More data please… including interviews with a sizable portion of Buick dealers! THEN we’re cooking.
Nick is right. Bark M theories are so narrow just support the Barth Bros theme.
Extrapolating information from a limited data set is a good skill to have.
Mark, did you use Tableau?
Mark Baruth
No, you are deliberately running an anti-Buick smear campain!
1. New Regal just started ariving sales spiked 126% in Febuary. Yoy didn’t incude Feb. numbers
2.Kentucky has 1.4% of the U.S. population they should have sold 1.4% of the 219,000 Buicks last year or 3,100. Numbers are half that. Kentucky is not Buick country! First part of your story trys to claim that it is.
3. 20 out of 26 Buick dealerships in Kentucky also sell Chevy. No one is forcing them to sell every single model. They decide their product mix.
Buick has done a good job redefining itself. Just as Millenials are starting to have families. I’m really going to enjoy watching its sales take off.
Why, pray tell, would I run an “anti-Buick smear campain”
Campain for my real friends, real pain for my CAM friends?
Mark Baruth
In that case I eagerly await to read your articles on Volvo.
Some people can extrapolate information from a limited data set and some people….
Good column, and certainly challenges the notion that the dealers need Buick.
It also reinforces just how bad things are for sedans. CUVs have been gaining at the expense of sedans for a good five years, but in the last year or so it just feels like the sedan market has totally collapsed outside of rental fleets.
The same thing happened with coupes 15 years ago, and they never came back. The sedan is about to be what the coupe is today: an unconventional style dominated by just a few major nameplates. The Camry and Accord are tomorrow’s Mustang and Camaro.
Oh, and speaking of coupes: your dealer would have sold one of those Avistas in a year. Maybe.
What’s going on with GM? It already euthanized Saturn, Oldsmobile and Pontiac. Cadillac is still hemorrhaging money. And now Buick that’s supposed to be skipped… Trump’s plan to raise import taxes on foreign cars won’t help GM to clean up its act.
Voyager
“Cadillac is hemorrhaging money”
WOW! and it was just last week when I heard they were making money hand over fist.
They must be going really big on the XT4 introduction at the New York auto show.
Voyager, knee-jerk reactions are what these articles are about. These stories cover up the fact that the 2018 Accord is getting its clock cleaned by Camry.
The smaller suv’s at Cadillac are actually very popular. I’d also take a sweet CTS awd 2.0T any day. Cadillac still has buyers, Buick makes nice vehicles but way over priced for the competition. Buick seems like a tax write off for GM.
This is yet another case of GMs brand mismanagement. I get that Buick is big in China but if its wants to survive in the US there are a few thing they will need:
If Buick is to be a premium brand it will need some sort of halo model, be it an SUV, car or otherwise.
Buick needs to differentiate itself from non-luxury brands. While using GM platforms it needs to focus on interiors and design to justify its premium mission. Their current interiors are no better than Mazdas.
I just love to write “hemorrhaging” and get it right without using spelling control ;-) I can remember Cadillac losing hundreds of millions in trying to conquer export markets (especially in Europe). Have all those losses been taken in account?
Voyager
Cadillac has a very small footprint in Europe only 34 dealerships. Which also sell Camaros and Corvettes. They were profitable in 2016 selling ~2700 Vehicles. I haven’t seen any more current numbers.
Mazda’s problem, and so is Subaru’s, is that they can only go up market so far without a near-luxury/luxury nameplate. Picking one aspect of a car or model is a losing argument as the car is made up of so much more than just a padded interior.
I knew Buick wasn’t popular but these numbers suggest they are already dead. I think I’ve seen 3 or 4 Cascadas since they launched that model, and I live is south FL where they should be popular. I see more Bentleys on daily basis.
The Cascada average buying age is probably 45-55 year old female. Maybe you live in an older clientele area. It they are not on rental lots or even Hertz/Enterprise for sale lots.
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2016/11/buick-cascada-not-chrysler-200-convertible-rental-queen-thought-itd/
Well, that answers what I was musing about last time around. But does anyone know what GM thinks about the brand at a corporate level?
I have a feeling the brand is sticking around for a few reasons:
1) I’d suspect that killing it hurts sales in China.
2) It’d cost GM a fortune to pay off Buick dealers. If I’m wrong on this, tell me.
3) GM still moved 200,000 Buicks last year. That’s a lot of coin no matter how you slice it. And the brand is strong in a market that’s expanding (CUVs).
I suspect GM might have concluded it was cheaper to keep the brand, even if it’s a gimp.
Maybe that’s the point behind GM’s difficult, spiteful targets for GM dealers – if they hold out long enough, it’s probably not counter to any dealer agreements, and it might prompt the dealers into resenting Buick enough they’ll be the one’s asking to be let it die.
Buick sells more than Acura…
Louisville KY – home to 2 Ford assembly plants
Georgetown KY – home to Toyota’s largest U.S. manufacturing plant
Mark Baruth are you stupid or do you think your readers are?
He picked the state he lives in. Even if less Buicks are sold in Kentucky than Michigan, the point that GMC dealers don’t need Buick is a valid one. All Buick products would be better as a GMC or not existing.
Adam Tonge
C’mon only
Maybe it’s both?
Probably, we both are posting dumb stuff online and using our real names.
Lol! Unfortunately some take the Barth stories hook, line, and sinker.
My name is right at the top of the page, man. Is it that difficult for you to spell it correctly?
Buick: Squeezed by a falling market for sedans; squeezed by rising prices of Chevy, Ford, Honda and everything so there isn’t room between “volume” cars and luxury/near luxury cars; squeezed by markedly improved interiors in the volume cars.
Buick meant something when I was a kid. A move up car from Chevy/Pontiac when you couldn’t quite reach, or didn’t want the flash, of a Cadillac. Big cars, lots of chrome, comfort, features (like their own engine line) that others lacked. Oh the “Wildcats” of the sixties!!!
Lastly, the Verano was a good seller here, saw a lot of them. I know it was a reskinned Cruze, but why wasn’t it done again?? I always preferred the appearance of the Verano to the Cruze. I think they were selling about 40,000 a year. What genius at Buick decided to walk away from this volume?? Business 101: no product, no sales. I guess they never had to pay the light bill at a small business, where EVERY sale counts.
Thr Verano has a nice subtle, muscular look to it. Not sure if AWD, diesel, or hybrid would make the Verano compete with Encore.
“Kentucky should be prime Buick territory”
This is fallacy. 4M people and half buying pickup trucks, quarter buying Subaru and out of remaining quarter, Buick gets only tear drops. Check Pennsylvania, NY.
Nobody buys Subaru in KY.
Yep, John D. Nobody in Lexington, KY.
Ok, it was a metaphor. But Ky is pickup truck state for sure. Like I say, may be not the best to measure Buick
My hunch is that KY is fairly representative of any state not named Michigan when it comes to looking at Buick sales. I also suspect that domestic brands have a higher market share percentage in KY than in the rest of the country which reinforces Bark’s argument.
% doesn’t matter. If the state has 10 cars, 5 cars is 50%. Get it? Kentucky represents nothing. It is pickup country. Look into a state with balanced cityrural population
I would be interesting if someone had data to drill down to a state where the sedan market is still “healthy” compared to the rest of the country.
IF Buick isn’t selling in a sedan friendly state where people will actually buy the body style – then it is time to carve Buick’s headstone.
Why focus on one state? That is like focusing on one month of sales during Feburary snow storms in Minnesota for a Camaro or Corvette.
Kentucky’s population is about as balanced as you can get between rural and metropolitan. The Northern KY (Suburban Cincinnati), Louisville, and Lexington populations are about 2.5 million, and the total population is 4.5 million. Passenger car and truck registration mix is almost identical to the national reported sales average.
Norm doesn’t seem to understand that it’s impossible to get registration data at anything above state level.
With the sale of Opel to PSA, the LaCrosse, Regal and Cascada are probably gone after this product cycle (and over at Chevy either the Mailbu or Impala are gone too). With the cars gone, move an Encore sized vehicle to GMC. Envision is replaced by the Terrain and no one notices. The Enclave could disappears being replaced by a LWB Cadillac 3 row crossover or a longer wheelbase three-row crossover added to GMC above Acadia and below the Yukon. There is no place for a near luxury Buick in the market as Cadillac is effectively in the same segment (and not considered to be a real M-B or BMW competitor). There have been numerous articles as to why GMC continues as a license for GM to make money (and why people will not just simply buy a Chevy branded product).
Buick is still a car company?
Is Acura still a car comoany?
Is Mitsubishi still a car company with only one sub par mediocre 3 cylinder entrant?
Ouch that is some brutal math.
One note, what is with GM showing amazing looking concept cars only to never make anything like what they show? The Buick in the photo looks hot. What would they have to lose by swinging for the fences? Go from two cars a month to one? If nothing else it would make some Chinese buyer excited.
Spend time with dealers like Bark does and you find out quickly that dealers don’t care about the loss of lower margin slow sellers that the manufacturer pushes on them to soak up their floorplan. They’d rather pay the same interest percentage on something that yields them a higher GP percent.
Smaller margin cars only really work for dealers if they are high velocity. Toyota and Honda dealers are high volume by intent. There are fewer of them in a given geographical area. Detroit 3 dealer networks are still a legacy of the age when the manufacturer begged backwater gas stations to carry some inventory and thus the small town dealer was born.
I discovered this while shopping infinity dealers (autocorrect is fighting me). There’s ONE per metro area, compared to the many of everything else….
Ding. Somebody here gets it.
I don’t understand buick to this day.
What are they selling and to who?
There’s so much overlap in Chevy vs. Cadillac, that I can get a Chevy impala that costs more than a base cadillac.
In addition the chevys both look nice and are a lot nicer than they used to be.
So if Chevy is moving “up market”, where does that leave Buick?
I really don’t understand where it goes and whose supposed to buy it.
Say what? An Impala Premier fully kitted tops out at around 41K. The equivalent Cadillac XTS starts at 47390 with no optional equipment. The only Cadillac sedan that starts out cheaper than this is the tiny ATS with RWD and in no way competes with a fully equipped Impala. Oh and the CTS starts out at 47290 in case you were wondering for a base RWD 4 cylinder model.
If Buick truly exists for the sake of the Chinese market, GM could simply set up a rebadging operation at the port. A Chevy drives in, gets a waterfall grille and some tri-shields, and out pops a Buick.
Anyway, if the trade dispute gets nastier it may not make a difference.
As market demand diminishes for cars the lesser products will fall by the wayside and Buick is perceived as a lesser product.
Add to that a mundane SUV line up that is more or less a rebadging exercise indicates a tight ass and cheap solution GM came up with during the GFC to maintain the Buick brand.
The consumer is not that silly and will notice that GM rebadges a number of vehicles across their line up, so why keep Buick.
With the demise of Buick GM total vehicle sales will drop, as it has with the loss of all the other brands, including Holden, Opel and Vauxhall.
GM is shrinking slowly, globally as a real force.
Anyone remember Jeep/Eagle dealers? Eagle cars were a hodgepodge of AMC, Renault, Mitsubishi, and Chrysler products that usually had better-known counterparts in Chrylser/Plymouth or Dodge showrooms. But dealers *wouldn’t* be able to get by just selling Jeeps, would they?
The problem here is that Buick and GMC don’t actually have a lot of overlap.
See, the kind of person who buys a GMC is actually a Cadillac customer. They have a decent amount of money, but they want to maintain a certain “working class” cred. So, instead of buying a $60k Cadillac, they buy a $60 Sierra High Country. Or a Yukon Denali.
Meanwhile, Buick appeals to people who just want a slightly nicer Chevy. Most of those people who can afford a slightly nicer ride will opt for a CUV, but also don’t really want the premium attached to a “professional grade” SUV.
It fits the “sure, i’ll pay $35k for a tarted up chevy, but my ego is nowhere near inflated enough to pay $60k for a penis enlargement mobile.
Cadillac does not offer a pickup truck and yet a healthy amount of GMC sales are pickups. The tarted up Chevy crowd spans both brands.
Going to disagree a bit.
See a decent amount of (loaded) Enclaves to go with Yukon XL Denalis and Escalades in an area filled with Range Rovers, Cayennes, X5s, the GLS, etc.
Buick is not dead yet. I doubt they will ever have a large presence but there is still hope. Buick should build the Avista and call it a Rivera even if it has a limited market. Buick needs a halo car. Ax the Regal and any Opel based car and bring back a version of the Verano. Make a larger rear wheel drive V-8 powered sedan (slightly larger than the LaCross) and call it an Electra. Keep the current Enclave, Envision, and Encore. As long as the Buick is doing well in China it will still need a presence in the US but if and when it doesn’t do well in China then it should get the ax. As long a Buick has a presence in the US it will be a seller in China.
They are listing Avista as a future product on their website.
media.buick.com/media/us/en/buick/vehicles.html
Nice data and piece Mark. I’m surprised there were so few Verano sales even though it was going away. No clearance event Buick? I’m also puzzled by the number of Regals vs Lacrosse, given its sales history.
How Mazda is different from Buick -self proclaimed “premium brand” with dwindling car sales? Why there is no Mazda death watch? Why Americans want to kill only American brands, shut down only American companies and outsource everything out of America and get rid of all good paying jobs for Americans? What is the motivation? Why Americans hate each other so much that are in perpetual state of civil war? I am puzzled by state of affairs in America – reminds me Soviet Union a lot. America’s worst enemy are fellow Americans and especially American CEOs.
Okay back to cars. At least Buick sells cars in China. Rebadge all Mazdas as Toyotas and sales will explode.
Or an Acura sedan death watch?
About ten years ago, our Buick/GMC store was averaging about 8 new Buicks a month, and about 45 GMC’s. I wonder if that ratio has changed any?
Don’t see how Buick sedan sales are any different than for say, Acura – much less Lexus (minus the ES) or Infiniti?
YTD, Buick has sold 29,970 vehicles – which is more than Acura (19,877) or Infiniti (23,455), much less Lincoln (13,110) – and is right about where Audi sales are (29,962).
Even with declining sedan sales – Buick is fine with keeping the LaCrosse (the Avenir trim will help make up for the upcoming departure of the XTS) and the sportier Regal (Regal sales have declined over the years, esp. as the previous model was a “tweener” in size and not exactly suited for the US market).
Last month as supply has increased – the new Regal had its best month since Jan. of 2016 – selling 2,318, which is not far behind the TLX (2,794) which is its closest competitor.
What the Buick brand could use is another CUV to slot btwn the Envision and the Enclave, esp. if GM discontinues the Regal after this gen (unless they come to an agreement with Opel to supply them with the next gen model), but they need to differentiate them with GMC’s offerings by giving them slinkier sheetmetal.
Audi finally passed Buick in sales last year, placing 3rd and 4th behind Lexus, Mercedes, and BMW.
Sure, but how many models does Audi have compared to Buick?
And GM basically encompasses both ends of the luxury spectrum with Buick and Cadillac.
For instance, the Regal is the most direct competitor to the Acura TLX (the departed Verano was the most direct competitor to the ILX) and the LaCrosse is the model which has been included the most in comparison tests with the Lexus ES.
Buick routinely deep discounts the product to move it. 16% off MSRP is the first splash page on buick.com right now.
Moving modest amount of metal with deep discounts is a crummy business plan.
GM undoubtedly views the smattering of Buick sales in North America as an investment in propagating the brand’s image and presence in China. Much of that allure would die if Buick disappeared here.
With exception of a few high in demand models, just about everyone is aggressively discounting these days.
How about turning Buick into a quieter and refined trim for Chevrolet? Then you don’t have to spend millions supporting an extra brand and you get to keep the fat margins on sound proofing material. Win-win!
Buick at this point is GM’s Mercury when Ford killed it… except China.
I Cadillac could just build decent high end ( E to S class and up) cars, there could be plenty of room for Buick above Chevy. Kind of like GMC. Of course, Buick would also have to build decent cars. Catering more to upper middle than to upper class sentiments. The two of which are often very different.
Eventually the agreement with Opel will end and there will be no more Opel sourced cars like the Regal. As long as Buick is not bleeding red overall then it should exist. GM should either lower the price of Buick cars or make them more distinctive from the premium Chevrolets. A halo car such as the Avista would at least draw people to the showrooms.
Regal shares with Malibu so that could easily be made in Fairfax or Canada. You won’t see a Buick coming out of Mexico.
But China is okay fine?
Well I guess I should start picking out my “Final 500” edition Buick (making a nod to Oldsmobile with that comment.)
If Buick keeps turning a profit, GM will keep it around. It’s crazy, but GM exists to make money. Here’s where it gets crazy: GM executives will tell you with a straight face that Cadillac can compete with the high-end Germans and that Chevy can compete with Toyota/Honda. GM lost a generation of customers during the malaise era and they ain’t coming back. I can imagine a Buick buyer rationalizing that their purchase was a much better buy than a Lexus ES/EX. But deep down inside, they have a case of the sadz.
One el scotto’s better posts of recent.
Blessed enough to buy any car I want save exotics. Zero interest in any Lexus today. Hideous grills. Happier in my current Lacrosse than the E I came out of. Sad, nope. Great car.
Buick is a global brand so the author needs to stop being so parochial. It’s not going anywhere. And for the record, GM didn’t die it’s doing just fine. Bankruptcy exists to allow companies to restructure. So please let us know when you actually make an accurate prediction.
As an aside GM is a truck and cuv company that happens to sell cars to meet fuel standards. Whether car enthusiasts like it or not the public has spoken-at least for now on the subject.
Buick exists in NA and China, so much for being global. The GM BK (bankruptcy)has been covered extensively on here. Thousands upon thousands of comments. GM’s BK was NOT a normal BK, but I think it was a necessary evil. The alternative would have been much, much worse; think an economically cratered Midwest. I do not think GM deserves adulation for past and current corporate arrogance. But times were bad in the vehicle manufacturing shire. Ford had basically hocked the blue oval on the glass palace and Chrysler was given to Fiat. Ford got back on track, or at least profitably and the Agnellis got Jeep. Lexus will discount your leas if you prepay it. Astute people understand this.
P.S. You traded a rear wheel drive E Class for a Front Wheel Drive Lacrosse? Just the thought of going to front wheel drive is nothing short of blasphemy for many of us. That does infer how you drive your cars; the words spirited and spritely do not come to mind. Allrighty then.
I drive an E350 some of the time. It’s a 4matic, and its as spirited and spritely as some of the better CUVs. RWD doesn’t mean much when most luxury cars are completely numb AWD isolation chambers with engines better suited to stationary industrial application. There are any number of FWD cars that drive better than the typical leased AWD compliance specials of Germany.
I test drove a 2017 Lacrosse Essence FWD in Peperdust paint with a cream and brown interior last week and was anything but sad after the drive. Other than the weird and finicky shifter it was a hoot and very refined and smooth. The perfect isolated highway cruiser and the seats were some of the best I have sat in recently. The best part was the price. 21995 with 22K miles. Sadly no roof though.
I miss Buick. I never owned one but now I wish that I had. Buick’s not gone yet? Oh. Never mind.
Buick’s biggest problem with their large cars is that Genesis builds the better Buick.
Try getting a new AWD Genesis G anything for the price of a new 2017 LaCrosse. Their is close to a 10K difference in actual out the door price.
I believe there has been enough time that has lapsed between the malaise era cars and the current generation of cars. The quality of the American brand cars has improved to where it is not that much less than a Japanese car. The problem is that people are buying suvs and crossovers and not as many cars. Cars do not have the profit margins that trucks, suvs, and crossovers have. Even Lexus is not sell the number of cars they once were and BMW and Mercedes are not either. I swore that I would not buy another GM product but 19 years ago I did and still have it. GM cannot afford to go back to making poor quality vehicles. As long as Buick is turning a profit it will most likely exist but as soon as the Chinese stop buying Buicks then Buick will go to the dust bin of history. There is more reason to keep Buick than Cadillac which has become a less relevant brand trying to compete unsuccessfully with the Germans. Cadillac should be axed and Buick should get the Avista and GMC should continue to be sold along side of Buicks. GM needs to improve their interiors across the board and not try to be No 1 or even No 2–quality and profit should come before volume.
Quality costs money (profit). It seems GM is less willing to spend money on parts and assembly inspection than the Japanese. I’ve personally seen GM run 30 day parts inspection on a part and the Japanese run 90-120 day inspections on the same part. GM’s corporate culture is changing, but can they completely change? Or will they still believe that Deming is a town in NM?
First, badge engineering is simply unacceptable nowadays and it has been for years. Anyone with a web browser and 15 minutes of time knows which models have badge copycats and it immediately evaporates any notion of authenticity or value. How General Motors can continue to kid themselves about this reality is beyond me.
Second, GM *must* retire the Buick and Cadillac and build a new premium brand that successful people in my generation desire.
1986 called, they want their perception back.
GM’s improvement in masking the commonalities of their lineup has improved dramatically in the past decade. They still need to improve how they differentiate interiors, but they’ve come a long way – inside and out – from the 80’s or even ten years ago.
Maybe should learn the difference btwn “platform-sharing” and “badge-engineering.”
For certain models, Buick does “badge swap” for models overseas which aren’t available here (so depending on market, sold as an Opel, Buick or Holden).
I’d like to see a ten-year plan adopted in which Chevrolet and Cadillac expand their lineups to make Buick/GMC redundant. Then kill off the latter two brands for NA, leaving Buick China-only.