Buick Chief Duncan Aldred: “A Lot More To Do” With Buick In U.S.
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Buick has become somewhat of an underdog in that no one seems to have expected the brand to have exploded like it has. The 2015 Buick Encore has become a smash hit, and the 2015 Buick Enclave had its best sales year yet in 2014, despite only one refresh throughout its entire first generation.
Duncan Aldred, head of Buick and GMC brands, has become known to expand horizons in sales and marketing, such as the 16 percent cash-back offering during the NCAA Sweet Sixteen tournament, and also pushed for a 50 percent increase in supply of Buick Encores. Both have been extremely successful moves, especially the additional supply of Encores.
Despite having a “global” title now attached to his name tag, Aldred says his main priority will be ensuring Buick in the U.S. continues to make strides in sales, and has outlined a goal to quadruple sales domestically.
“I’ll be here a few times a year, just working to harmonize the brand and make sure it all connects together,” Aldred told Reuters this week, following the unveiling of the redesigned 2016 Verano sedan for the Chinese market. “That process has been a little bit here and there.”
Aldred’s global title will also allow him to greater oversight of the brand in U.S. and China. We expect this is the man behind the push to get the 2016 Buick Envision to U.S. shores as quickly as possible, a crossover the brand could use desperately.
“I’m under no illusion about the job we need to keep doing in the U.S.,” Aldred said. “We’ve got a good start, but there’s a lot more to do.”
We expect big things Mr. Aldred, and we don’t think we’ll be disappointed. Just make sure we get a Buick Avenir.
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The only Buick model that’s up in 2015 is the Encore. The Enclave, the Verano and the the Regal have tanked (numbers from your website). LaCrosse is still down for the year, despite a positive March (read, massive incentives).
And yes, there’s China, which owns 51% of GM’s operations, including that butt-ugly metallic blue Verano they unveiled in Shanghai.
The Encore is the lone success story for now, and it looks like an Enclave that shrunk in the wash. Bon chance,
Mr. Aldred.
And that man peering over your shoulder is the supremely self-confident Mr. De Nysschen.
Yes, Enclave, Regal, LaCrosse and Verano are struggling for sales right now but they are all getting a little stale. Hey have been on the market for at least 4 model years.
They will all be redesigned in the next couple of years.
And more new product just around the corner. I predict that despite a little stagnation that the upswing at Buick will continue.
This man is the best person GM has in it’s management structure , bar none !! I think there will be a big corporate push to see him take over more responsibilities in the company . He and his team , could in my opinion , take over the additional job of running the Cadillac division or the Chevrolet one ! Buick is the new benchmark for this bloated corporate giant , and I’m sure it will increasingly turn to this division today and in the future !
I’m looking forward to RWD Omega Buick flagship…..the 2017 Buick Lacrosse will have new fresh bold styling…..but FWD is getting a little stale for the Buick flagship position.
There’s literally 3 vehicles not in the Buick/GMC line that if they had, Chevrolet & Cadillac could simply close. Escalade, Camaro and Corvette. Buick/GMC covers everything else in the entire car,cuv/suv and truck market. And they do it with far more class, style, quality, options and thus resale value. There is literally Zero need for Chevrolet & Cadillac outside of the Escalade, Camaro and Corvette.
Roll the Escalade into the Denali line as the top tier trim. Roll the Silverado/Colorado into low rent GMC trims of the Sierra and Canyon. That’s all they are anyway. Close Chevrolet for good and let GM/GMC just use the Camaro/Corvette nameplates for racing endeavors. Close Cadillac for good as well. Chevrolet and Cadillac are too low rent and too damaged to ever compete with Buick & GMC or Ford, Kia or Nissan. It’s over for them. GM has given the great stuff to Buick (and GMC) and it’s paid off. All current Chevrolet/Caddy dealers can convert over to Buick/GM dealers.
Thank heavens Mark Reuss is a Buick-GMC guy!!! Get rid of Chevy!
Chevrolet and Cadillac both will go the way of Saturn, Pontiac and Olds very soon. Permanent dirt nap status. Good riddance.
Hmmm I smell professional trolls here. New names and big number of thumbs up on really stupid replies.
Paul you are correct as Buick is the last of the first wave of post Chapter 11 new product to come to market. They will be fine and will build on what they have started.
I wish they would take a few more risk as in North America they have little to lose since China is paying the bills. The Encore has paid off and they could try some other things yet.
Heck Scott,SierraGS,BvonScott,Tyler,Scott3 and the rest, This is right up your alley.
June is a pro troll here note the accusation of multiple names from someone who seldom if ever posted here.
I agree, Scott, many of the posts are quite odd and illogical. Buick is coming along nicely, and I feel that their marketing is stronger than what I’ve seen for other GM products. They can appeal to people who haven’t given GM a thought for many years.
Ellis I have seen an increase with people making stupid comments and they go in and vote themselves up as they have multiple names. They are easy to spot when they get stupid and still get 32 positives.
Also you have been around long enough to know who has been here and the names that are new.
You are correct on the stronger products and the marketing is better but still has a ways to go yet. But as it does we will see more stupid attacks as these are pro’s here and some automakers are taking the battles to social media.
Toyota has had a long reputation for insider workings with many in the media.
Note we still have our normal trolls like mangius as he is not a pro he is just a GM hate working for free.
I guess I’m different from many on here, on where i love all sorts of cars, some american, some german, some Japanese etc. Regal is really the first buick i really liked, although i prefer the opel version more. Some Cadillac (mostly the ATS) I’m starting to like i still love german cars, and wish Cadillac would get nicer looking gauges, on some of the cars. Every site has trolls sadly, car sites especially.
See the count you can tell the pro’s as they will work over time on the weekends to down score the truth like they can not figure out that people are on to them.
This just proves the fear some companies have anymore.
I just let the market place sort it out. There are many companies struggling and we have yet to see all of them pass from the market. GM is not one of them as even with the issues they have faced they are rebounding with profits.
Sorry trolls the numbers don’t lie and fouling up social media will not work.
Yet you sir just took normal numbers with roughly 70% thumbs up vs. 30% down that had been there for days and turned them to roughly 30% thumbs up and 70% down. All within a matter of minutes. Nice job SierraGS-Bvonscott-Scott-Scott3. You managed to ruin GMI and now you’ve done the same to GMA over the last many months.
Been there for days? Yesterday at most. That’s a little more than 24 hours. Furthermore, Scott doesn’t have the technical capabilities to downvote people like this.
Some people have unpopular opinions, and some people have very unpopular opinions.
@scott3 I am with you. The Insignia Sports Tourer being sold a Buick Regal Sports Tourer sounds like a recipe for success against the Volvo V60, replacement for what Saab used to offer, as well as an alternative to BMW, Mercedes, and Audi wagons. Why not GM? I actually would buy one of these. It would be an easy move since you already sell the Regal here.
Why the hate for Cadillac and Chevy? Why no just hope that all of GM’s divisions are successful. I agree that Buick need a few more product same as Cadillac. In time I think they both will get these products and the success they deserve.
I don’t understand why there’s so much Chevy/Cadillac hate. I want all GM brands to succeed. The key lies in product differentiation.
Top tier:
Cadillac: Best of the best. The best performance and luxury, I’m not talking about trade-offs between the two. I mean BOTH in one car. Cadillac needs to offer top-of-the line vehicles in every core segment the other luxury automakers do, and create new segments as well. If that $12 billion is invested right, Cadillac will offer range-toppers that can hang with the likes of the S65 AMG and Maybach S600 from Mercedes-Benz, Maserati GranTurismo and Quattroporte by 2025-2030.
Middle tier:
Buick: Buick should continue down its path as affordable luxury for those who don’t care about performance. The emphasis will be placed on safety, technology, and comfort. This brand would ideally have some of the most beautiful cars on the road, while staying true to it’s past design cues. Rear wheel drive is acceptable here and there, but the number is very limited to keep from cannibalizing Cadillac. As far as white space goes, this is where GM should get a little risky and experiment with different designs, such as 4-door coupes, fastback crossovers, shooting brakes, and of course, wagons.
GMC: GMC should be the Beast to Buick’s Beauty. GMC should be showcasing off-road and soft-road performance, as well as add wrangler-like customization to multiple models developed within GMC. I would like to see competition to the Subaru XV Crosstrek and Range Rover Evoque with their Denali sub-brand as well as a coupe-utility and the only sport-utility truck offered by GM. In addition, GMC should keep offering Denali versions of their Sierra and Yukon, with the Sierra Denali being a luxury pickup done right to show the upcoming Mercedes truck who’s boss.
Entry tier:
Chevrolet: Save for the nicer trims of the Impala, Chevy will largely be a mainstream, affordable brand. However, Chevrolet Performance should be borrowing certain powertrains from Cadillac, albeit in a way that doesn’t dilute Cadillac. If you want good, classic, no-frills American performance, Chevrolet will be your go-to brand within GM. Hopefully we’ll see a successor to the Pontiac Solstice, an Omega-based rear-drive sport sedan, and a hot hatch.
Except that Buick and GMC really do have it all over Cadillac and Chevrolet. They just have better designs like mainstream brands such as Ford, Nissan an Kia offer. You just said Buick should offer the most beautiful cars on the road. Well then, that should be the mainstream company period because that’s what’s going to sell the big numbers. This is how Ford, Kia and Hyundai have made headway. You can’t make Chevrolet some sort of ‘entry tier’ and expect it to survive in this marketplace much longer. And it’s already shown that if Chevy gets the product, people will spend the money. Many option Chevrolet’s to higher price points than Cadillac. But Chevrolet’s starved design and option portfolio have cheapened the name and created nothing but brand damage. So it needs to go. Watch and see, this new Malibu won’t fix a thing. They didn’t go far enough with it and the market will recognize that. Customers will be better served in a Buick! You ‘GM’ guys simply don’t grasp that many if not most outside of internet land don’t realize what GM is, nor get their 1930’s step ladder concept of companies (now brands). People think these companies (brands) are their own individual entities. So when Chevrolet lacks in design or options what Ford has, Chevy loses the sale.
I’m with many in that I see no point in Chevrolet under this set up. It made sense 100 years ago, now not so much if at all. And why would Chevrolet Performance borrow a single power train from Cadillac? It’s called Chevrolet Performance, not Cadillac Performance. And a Sierra Denali to show Mercedes who’s boss?? Is not that Cadillac’s job? This is exactly the point. Maybe rolling in the Escalade to the Denali line and closing Cadillac isn’t such a bad idea then. I also think your assertion of what Buick should be is exactly what Cadillac should be. Cadillac’s are not racing vehicles. Maybe a one off could be but if that’s their whole marketing angle as a whole like it’s been, Cadillac’s a dead brand walking. I’m sorry but I’d rather be in Buick/GM or Ford. You can have sporty, luxury, a cheaper model if you want, an expensive Buick high end model if you want, a truck if you want. It’s everything in one. GM keeps trying to force split groups up but the problem is it doesn’t work. Nobody wants cheap Chevrolet’s anymore. They only want the Corvette’s and Camaro’s. And nobody wants Cadillac’s but for the Escalade. It’s why I said, take those 3 vehicles and put them into GM/GMC and Buick. Close Chevy and Caddy for good, move forward. Chevrolet and Cadillac do nothing but detract from Buick GMC. And while it’s true Buick/GMC are taking most Chevrolet/Cadillac customers, they could be doing far more. Sorry guys, Chevy-Caddy are dead inside 5 years aside from Corvette, Camaro and Escalade. It’s the truth. Buick/GMC has literally everything else.
Curtnik
I totally agree with your vision fo GM as a whole. Don’t eleminate Brands grow the ones you have. Hopefully GM has a strategy like that or something ver similar planned.
Thank you, VCAT. GM may have had too many brands 10 years ago, but right now they are where they need to be. There’s very little redundancy unlike Volkswagen and to a lesser extent FCA’s Italian operations.
True. While many like to complain about the loss of several brands GM lost their way with most and just over lapped too much with too many models.
Right now once this all plays out they should be in pretty good shape with all their brands. Once Cadillac gets to where they are going they will leave a perfect void for Buick to fill between Chevy and Cadillac.
I think Buick may be an advantage moving forward as they will continue to prove profitable and bring added income with out doing much damage to the other divisions.
Cadillac sucks Buick should would sell way better if it had all of cadillac goodies. Buick has had performance in his blood gs, gsx, grand national, gnx Kayla can try it but its still stall assBrand that will never do well just look at ct6 vs avenir. The avenir blows it away in style.ct6 looks like a stretch cts nothing to different itself then size and some extra goodies in the interior
“Buick has had performance in his blood gs, gsx, grand national, gnx ”
“in his blood?” Buick is a sales channel for GM’s cars, not a race horse. There is no genetic transference of performance cars over time. Buicks don’t give birth to little Buicks that have “performance in their blood”.
Also, Buicks don’t have blood. In fact, no car ever made came with blood, or with a genetic haplogroup that can it ancestry could be traced with. Again, these are cars we’re talking about, not dog and horse breeds.
And one last thing. The GNX was a one time affair, and nobody outside of the US cares about it, much less knows of it. The V-series has been going on for over 10 years now and has done far more for GM’s public image and Cadillac than the GNX ever could. The GNX never even made it to the Nurburgring, and it was never used in any company sponsored racing. It’s completely forgettable. Nobody’s going to bother remembering a car from 28 years ago if Buick hasn’t done anything remarkable since then.
Cadillac, on the other hand, has done quite well for itself with the V-series. It’s a badge of aspiration; people call it by name.
Wow there is some real BS going on here. Just look at the ratings.
Even maguis on his best troll never hit these numbers LOL!
Someone has no life.
I live in the metro nyc area and notice the large advantage enjoyed by GMC over Chevrolet on the coasts. This can only mean good things for Buick as the brand grows and moves further upmarket.
Buick/GMC make for unique hyper-brand offering vehicles in every segment from sedans to pick ups—something Lexus can’t do.
GM is spending for more on Caddy than Ford will Lincoln or Honda will Accra or Toyota will Lexus. In certain ways, I fear that Cadillac is a money pit and that GM would be better off using Buick and GMC for luxury. Then again, GM will gain a fortune should both brands florist.
I see a lot of Chevrolet and Caddy hate on here. Ultimately, we all have a favorite brand… Mine is Buick/Opel… but the entire company has great product.
If done right, Cadillac will be a crown jewel. I certainly agree with you when it comes to Buick/GMC being luxury offerings, but they should be mid-luxury at best. Can’t afford to have Cadillac’s toes stepped on. They won’t be as long as all but 2 or 3 models are front wheel drive.
The Lacrosse is not good enough to surve as a flagship…its too close to chevy and sence the Malibe grow in size and it look too much like the new Chevy Malibe.
I would hate to see the FWD Lacrosse be the flagship of Buick when the CT8 arrives.
RWD Omega Buick flagship please.
when the Cadillac CT8 arrives it would give room for a RWD Omega for Buick…..the Buick flagship could start at $60.000……and the CT6 $75.000…..CT8 $100.000.