For Friday, January 22, 2010 – Buick and Cadillac
Cadillac XT6 vs. Chevy Traverse, GMC Acadia And Buick Enclave: Dimensional Comparison
GM Appoints Grant Dixton As New Executive Vice President and Chief Legal and Public Policy Officer
GM Promotes Baris Cetinok And Dave Richardson To Head Software And Services Organization
Quality CoachWorks Presents Six-Door GMC Yukon And Yukon XL: VideoSeptember 11, 2024
Goldman Sachs And Barclays Close To A Deal For GM Credit Card TransferSeptember 11, 2024
GM’s All-New Baojun Yunhai Officially Launches In ChinaSeptember 11, 2024
Check Out Kevin Hart’s 1969 Pontiac GTO Restomod: VideoSeptember 11, 2024
GM Releases Fix For Chevy Silverado Slow-Retracting Rear Seat BeltsSeptember 11, 2024
National Corvette Hall Of Fame Celebrates 2024 InducteesSeptember 11, 2024
Here’s Why People Are Putting Toy Sharks On Chevy WindshieldsSeptember 1, 2024
Doug DeMuro Declares Buick Will Fail In The U.S.: VideoAugust 29, 2024
We Render An Equinox-Based Chevy Montana Pickup As Ford Maverick RivalSeptember 7, 2024
Here Is The 2025 GMC TerrainAugust 12, 2024
Here Are The 2025 Chevy Equinox Fuel Economy RatingsAugust 27, 2024
Like Cadillac, Volvo No Longer Committing To All-EV Lineup By 2030September 5, 2024
85ZingoGTR on:GM Files Patent For A Vehicle Lift Gate That Stays Magnetically Shut
MushyWaffle on:GMC Terrain Discount Reaches $3,000 In September 2024
PAZ on:2025 Chevy Equinox Continues Faux Exhaust Outlet Trend
JM on:Goldman Sachs And Barclays Close To A Deal For GM Credit Card Transfer
morrisangelo on:Ford Doubles Down On Building V8, Manual Mustang For As Long As Legally Possible
jtxg on:Goldman Sachs And Barclays Close To A Deal For GM Credit Card Transfer
Here are my two pennies on the Cadillac/Buick Debate. I don’t dig into powertrains, Opel, or international operations. This is for North America.
Buick and GMC are not needed.
All GM needs is Chevrolet and Cadillac.
Cadillac can cover both forms of luxury you mention. The ATS will be a 3 Series competitor with all of the entry level luxury, cutting edge styel, and dynamic handling characteristics the younger affluent buyer aspires too including RWD and AWD. The CTS is directed at the middle aged buyer, more mature, higher earning power, and covers the needs of a family/executive. The regular CTS covers pure luxury and the CTS-V covers the drivers side of the equation. The XTS is the range topper for the CEO and wealthy retired person. The SRX needs to be fixed again as it is appears to be a weakest entry into the most competitive market segment IMHO. The Escalade needs to stay where it is as it is a genuine product unlike the mangled SRX. Cadillac should be the standard of the world for luxury at GM…period. Buick is DOA except in China and to make it a true Lexus competitor is futile as GM would need to spend millions in developing what? A LS400 fighter? That would screw over development dollars for Cadillac, or they would have to share the XTS with Buick. Having said that the XTS is not going to be a drivers car as it is full size luxury sedan. I also feel the LaCrosse could have been and should be a FWD Cadillac based on the reviews it has received as it clearly makes a fine ES300 competitor.
Chevrolet can cover the high volume segments from entry level first time buyers to the middle class buyer. The coming Aveo and Spark will be great entry level (A/B class) cars. The Cruze is going to be interesting for the middle market (B/C class) and the Malibu covers the C segment. The loaded Malibu for example would bump into the entry level price of the ATS, but not further. A loaded Impala may be the same price range as a loaded ATS and entry level CTS, but it is a full size value based car.
You target the products at the age, demographic, and earning power. You do not target your brand at other brands… you lead, not follow, you focus the product for the consumer type while beating the competition by fulfilling the consumers needs and wants.
I will say it again, there is no room for Buick between Chevrolet and Cadillac. The two brands can cover the market. Buick is in the same boat, but worse off than Acura/Volvo/Infiniti in the “near luxury” segment…let alone trying to be a pure luxury Lexus competitor.
This pod cast is the entire problem GM marketing has – figuring out where 4 brands go. Too many brands, and products to launch properly all fighting for the same dollars that must be split four ways. Yes, it is still better than the former 8 brands, but launching products with proper ad budgets to properly target demographics that should be clearly defined for each brand is going to be too expensive. Trying to say that Buick will be pure luxury, Cadillac is sport luxury is hard to define when targeting the luxury consumer. Changing the perception of Buick is an expensive proposition when the dollars could be spent in other areas.
Words to me that define the brands:
Cadillac – luxury, technology, cutting edge, safety, driving enjoyment, global
Chevrolet – value, safety, fuel efficient, family, sporty, utility
Buick – soft, near luxury, old, quality
GMC – rebadged, bonus volume, near luxury, professional grade –> (no one would really say that…)
Buick creates too much overlap Chevrolet. It steps on the product line in price and size. The LaCrosse and the Regal will eat away at Malibu and Impala. The Buick Astra will eat away at the Cruze or sit on the lots as young people don’t shop for Buicks. Why not make the Cruze the best small car period with a 5 door as well instead of trying to make the Buick Astra cover the premium compact segment? They are still trying to slice the market up into little niches between brands that will not be profitable as a whole.
Don’t get me wrong, I have been a GM fan for a long time and the new products are much better than what we have had in about… oh… forever. I have had this debate with many friends and feel that the current brand strategy needs to be flushed. GM has been trying to define them for too long without getting traction. No one can argue that Chevrolet and Cadillac are the two most genuine and respected brands at GM. My strong belief is that they can carry the company forward in any direction it needs to go in North America.
Those are some very good points. We’ll read them out on today’s debate as part of the comment segment and discuss!
While I do agree that Buick and Cadillac need to have a defined place in the automotive industry, it is ridiculous to believe that each vehicle in each of their respective lineups needs to be either “Pure” or “Performance.”
You commented that the new SRX trumps the Rx330, but it trumps the RX330 because of design, handling, and performance. So if Buick is taking on Lexus, should the SRX have been given to Buick, toned down the performance and handling to make it “pure”? Hell no!
Buick inherited the new Regal from Europe and it is getting media attention for its handling and performance. Should Buick have given the car to Cadillac because it is more “Performance” than “Pure”. Hell no!
I am just trying to make the point that GM brands should give their perspective customers the very best of what they are capable of producing! Obviously each brand will have a demographic to target, however, to build an image around performance or cushy just doesn’t fly in my book.
In my opinion, outside of a GM Forum, GM marketing execs should be doing everything they can to build brands that make people forget who the family company is. When you buy Tide Laundry Detergent, do you think P&G? no. When you buy Cheese-IT crackers do you think of Kellog’s? no. Its because those respective brands stand on their own with their own identity.
I am a GM fan too, but when I think Cadillac, the next thought is GM; same with Buick, Chevy and GMC. My next thought should be: CTS, Escalade, SRX or hopefully V. When I think Buick, the next thought should be premium, value, quality, customer experience. That is what builds brands.
If you have a strong brand, i.e. Lexus, you can make and sales whatever your heart’s desire! Hello, ES next to the IS-F, next to the RX and LX. GM is in the business of creating brands, not typecasting their brands to a made up specific audience of people who like “performance” over “luxury.”
Cadillac and Buick are not Acura or Volvo, let those guys play the niche game. Do you think BMW/Lexus became #1 in the market by playing the niche card? Hell no. They now have the privilege of playing the niche card within their line-up but only because the brand sits on the shoulders of 3-5-7. Lets face it, Cadillac and Buick are starting over where BMW was 15 years ago.
The solution is to have a clear and consistent message to the perspective customer, whom we all are, and great product to support it. If Cadillac wants to be in the realm of BMW, why is their tag line “The new standard of the World”? Instead of “The World’s new Performance Standard”? The current tag line says nothing about performance, it basically says nothing at all. BMW’s success in today’s market is because of fantastic product and a simple message: “The Ultimate Driving Machine.” The product stands on its own, and the message actually tells something about the product. What does “The new standard of the world” tell you? If this blog said “the new standard of the world” next to the GM Authority logo, one would be like oh ok, whatever! (the actual tag line on this site is great, it tells me exactly what this site is about). It took BMW generations of models and one message to become King of the HIll. Cadillac is in generation two, create a message worth supporting its awesome products and it will be on its way back to the new standard of the world.