As we all know, automotive is a tough business. Building great cars, making quality product and selling said product requires a lot of effort from ever corner of a company. The newest trend in the U.S. sees owners holding onto their transportation for much longer periods of time than normal.
According to a new report from Forbes, Americans are holding onto their rides for nearly eight years. Buick is tied with Dodge at 113 months of ownership, but not all of those Buick buyers are keeping their cars that long.
In fact, 2.7 percent of vehicles are traded in after only one year of ownership. That’s some major post-purchase dissonance. The 2014 Buick Regal ranked highest on the iSeeCars.com list of more frequently traded in vehicles. On average, 10.4 percent of 2014 Regal owners traded their vehicle in after just one year of ownership, four times greater than the aforementioned average of 2.7 percent. Despite being a solid vehicle, the larger Buick Lacrosse and baby-brother Verano have stolen the limelight, leaving the Regal as somewhat forgotten. It would be interesting to see if Buick is retaining those customers, or if they are even staying within the GM portfolio.
In a case of good news, bad news, it also means the Regal is one of the cheapest used car deals on the market. The 2014 Buick Regal is reported to depreciate 32.2 percent from its original purchase price. That can equate to a screaming deal on the used car lot.
As Buick continues to hone its product lineup, Buick chief Duncan Aldred says there is plenty to be down with the brand. That means better product division with less overlap. Of course, as Buick continues to rally around its “white space” ideal, that means more and more niches will begin to be covered, making Buick an intriguing brand to watch over the next few years.
Comments
Adding a twin-turbo V6 to the GS and making all-wheel-drive standard would have make it a lot more enticing. The GS is a great looking car at a somewhat competitive price, but it’s disappointing that it doesn’t have the performance to back up the attitude.
I too would love to have the TT AWD but the price of it in Europe was well north of $50,000 there and it would be as much or more here and that would pit it in a price segment that has too many other choices.
As it is now it is almost $45K here loaded.
I think once they get the new platform they can take this car to the next level but not with what they have now. It is a great car but it is at the limit of the price they could get for it now.
A rather positive summary on a basically negative story …
Funny that Consumer Reports ranks Regal above offerings from BMW, Benz and Cadillac.
Regal has been overly hyped as a sports offering and one must wonder just how many buyers passed on buying GS yet expected a European sportiness?
Regal fits poorly into Buick line up. This has been particularly true with the intro of Verano. Next generation, Buick will enlarge Regal putting it into further competition with LaCrosse which will only perpetuate the problem.
Regal should be a niche offering, only sold as GS. The car should be benchmarked against Audi and compete as the most fantastic lower price offering therefore filling another white space.
Don’t worry, Buick will enlarge the Lacrosse in the next generation to give the Regal some breathing room.
I disagree on offering the Regal in GS form only. Offering a non-GS model allows better sales and return on the investment by appealing to a larger buyer base. Those that want the performance or looks of the GS can still opt for it, those that don’t care or can’t afford the step up can still get a decent looking and competent car.
I’ll be interested to see what the next update brings. I’ve loved the way the Regal looks, but after initially sitting in one at the auto show, I dismissed it due to the fact that my 6′-2″ self won’t fit upright in the back seat. I know that’s not where I’d be spending much if any time, but if I don’t fit some of my friends or my dad wouldn’t either. I’m also not sold on the hype of a turbo 4. I’ve driven them, my wife owns a turbo, and they’re just not for me. V6 or bust.
I also did a quick search on the GM certified site, and only two popped up in a 100 mile radius of me, neither of which I feel is much of a deal. There are better deals on a brand new one.
Funny I was a V8 guy till I die and now I drive a 3.6 V6 daily Malibu and just wish my 2.0 Turbo play car engine was in it.
Funny how your life can change when they give you 315 FT LBS of torque @ 1800 to 5300 RPM.
It would be interesting to find the “why?” with this story. Were they old Regal buyers from the 1990s who didn’t like the size or the sportiness? Or buyers who didn’t buy the GS and then were disappointed? or bought the base but then traded up to the 2.0 Liter Turbo? Could be a multitude of things……JD Power should have some info which could give some clues but I think that a lot were older Regal buyers who bought the name and not the car
Yes the facts on why often can lead to some good reasons as to what is going on.
Just what are they buying to replace these cars could be really revealing as to what is going on. It may not have anything to do with the car per say.
I am betting many are trading up to a CUV or SUV as that is where many sedan people are now going. The Buick is a good car and we considered it but the real issue we had was size. The trunk was too small for the wifes needs for work and so we went to a Terrain.
Note as the trade in on this is a little higher the sales of the Terrain and Nox have continued to climb even as they age the reverse of the trend. Most buyers are coming from sedans and the Regal, GP and Malibu are three of them. We traded the GP.
Also how many of these are sold to rental fleets. The GP had a high trade too but Enterprise used a ton of them and only kept them about a year too. While the Regal was not used as much I do know they are used for rentals and that will play in too. Not many of the other models in this segment are used much.
When doing a story like this the writer needs to do the home work and show why and what is happening as numbers do not always tell the full story.
I’ve wonder what “Regal sport touring” and “LaCrosse Sport touring ” meant though…… Hmmmm