GM's Buick brand reaches crossroads

Jim Higgins · 2007-03-21T10:38:40+00:00

GM's Buick brand reaches crossroads -- Crunch time has arrived for General Motors Corp.'s beleaguered Buick brand.Saddled with a stodgy image and faced with years of sliding market share, the automaker is working hard to pump some life into the 104-year-old brand born in Flint.In the coming months, Buick will soup up its two sedans and launch a much-anticipated crossover sport utility vehicle.Buick can't afford to let those efforts fizzle, general manager Steve Shannon said Tuesday, pegging this year as a defining time in the brand's revival effort."2007 is going to be the breakout year for Buick," Shannon told the Automotive Press Association luncheon. "The business is tough; we're fighting it out every day."Buick is looking for something to revive itself in North America, where sales have fallen more than 40 percent since 2002.While the brand has flourished in the hot Chinese market, where GM last year sold more of the vehicles than it did in North America, Buick has struggled in the United States. Just two years ago, GM product czar Bob Lutz described Buick as a "damaged brand" and said GM may have to phase it out if matters don't improve.Plans for the coming months include reviving the Super car designation used on high-performance models of the 1950s, Shannon announced on Tuesday. Beefed-up models of the Lucerne and LaCrosse will get the moniker later this year.The Enclave crossover SUV -- Buick's most promising vehicle launch in years -- will hit showrooms this summer with Tiger Woods starring in the ads.And, next month, GM will unveil the 2008 LaCrosse at the New York Auto Show."We've been rebuilding Buick bit by bit," Shannon said.Saving Buick is a tough proposition, and some question whether GM's strategy is focused and aggressive enough to work.GM has taken a different approach with Buick than it did with Saturn, a brand bolstered by an all-out product assault in the past 18 months. GM has added five vehicles to the Saturn lineup, even shipping a compact...

Mar 21, 2007 25 Replies

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Double Tap 19 years ago

If the A-holes at GM built and sold either of these two cars it would be as if they had the ability to print all the money they could dream of.

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80 Knight 19 years ago

Very true. I've never driven a new Charger, but I hear that Hemi is quite powerful.

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80 Knight 19 years ago

How tuned up is the engine? My Series II non-supercharged in my last Bonnie used to get 30MPG on the highway. My new supercharged one looses a point or two off of that.

I think you need a tune-up my friend. Even the non-supercharged engine I had used to move damned fast. It also had close to 300,000 on the odo.

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<HLS 19 years ago

Oh, it scoots along but is no powerhouse. Maybe I underplayed the potential. It is no neck snapper

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80 Knight 19 years ago

No, the regular 3800 isn't any neck snapper, that I will agree with. The supercharged version though, is another story.

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80 Knight 19 years ago

The newest car I have driven was an '04 Grand Prix rental. If memory serves, it had the Series III 3800. I guess I am kind of partial to my engines. Out of all the cars I have had, 4 have had some version of the 3.8, three have had some version of the 3.1, the other was a 3400, and the last was a 305, so I am pretty used to the 3.8/3.1 family.

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