Buick is still on pace to set a five-year consecutive U.S. sales record. Although the brand has slowed substantially in 2015, 2016 is poised to be a very good year for the tri-shield, as reflected by The Detroit Free Press.
2016 will see the introduction of the 2016 Buick Cascada, 2017 Buick LaCrosse and, the most important product for the brand, the 2016 Buick Envision.
In 2015, the only vehicles to keep Buick afloat in the sales race were the 2016 Buick Encore and 2016 Buick Enclave. It goes without standing that both of those are crossovers, and the market continues to clamor to quench its thirst for CUVs small and large.
With a fresh 2017 LaCrosse to shake things up and an ever-important 2016 Envision midsize crossover, sales should eclipse 2015 quickly once the new vehicles reach dealer lots. Even the 2016 Cascada should find a few homes in warmer climates as it sucker punches competing convertibles with a knock-out value.
Comments
If anything’s gonna right the ship, I’d guess it’s most likely the Envision.
Cascada won’t sell a ton, especially launching in January.
LaCrosse, Verano, and Regal aren’t going to solve things, in their current configurations.
Encore will probably continue to sell.
Enclave – I don’t get why, in the year of the SUV/CUV, it’s sort of limping across the finish line. Glad the Detroit Free Press (does GM own them?) sees a silver lining in a dark cloud, but I suspect Encore and Envision will do the heavy lifting in 2016.
The ‘that’s not a Buick’ approach is getting a little long in the tooth … interesting to see where they go from here.
That is exactly what the story says that Enclave and Encore do the heavy lifting and will continue to.
Cascada – is a low volume player but even 1000 units per month will cause a year over year increase even if everything else stays the same as 2015
Encore – will continue to do well even with new players in the market like the HRV. Small SUV sales are white hot right now and show no signs of abatement
Enclave – while very long in the tooth is capitalizing on the popularity of crossovers of all kinds right now. It will continue to do well but suspect a new redesign is just around the corner based on the lengthened XT5 chassis
Lacrosse – is totally redesigned and will bow in June or so and will do better than current version now over 6 model years old
Verano and Regal will likely continue to decline in the near term as the shift away from sedans continue plus they are getting dated
Envision -will sell better than expected and will be accepted by the general public
The ‘that’s not a Buick’ tagline still resonates in the general public so they will keep beating that drum.
Overall Buick will close out 2016 very strong and carry that over into 2017 the calendar year.
2016 will be a good year for the whole auto industry . Buick is set up to do very well . The little Encore is a success and the Envision plugs the hole they had in the line up . And the all new LaCrosse will do better than expected .
I can see the LaCrosse possibly stealing sales from Cadillacs CT6 . Although both cars are nice some articles I’ve read recently are not so enthused with the exterior design of the CT6 . They claim that the sides are flat without much character and the Arts and Science is getting a bit old . But the exterior of the LaCrosse is sexy . All that being written before both cars hit dealerships .
Buick will do well in ’16 but they need to do some refreshening of the rest of the line up .
I suspect that the CT6 will do better than the XTS ever could hope to but not as much volume as the redesigned LaCrosse will though.
I think the main problem with Buick and Chevy for decreasing car sales is the consumer big demand for CUVs . HOWEVER , another reason is the low cost leases/prices for the Cadillac base models , especially the ATS . With the anemic Chevy 2.5 four banger for the ATS base model and a price that is in the same area as dressed up Chevy Malibu and Buick Regal , sales/leases are feeding off the Buick and Chevy potential customers …what a fine cannibal this division has become . This division is handed 12 Billion thereabouts and instead of taking on BMW who outsells Cadillac , it proceeds , in this decreasing car marketplace to focus/feed on Buick and Chevy customers !! This is inexcusable , and worse yet , it is the profits made by the other divisions that made the 12 billion a possibility ……… What a company , don’t you just love it ???
Huh?
1) The $12billion has not been spent on this current crop of vehicles. Those are vehicles that, from all reports, will start arriving after 2018 which is why the 2 year hiatus for Cadillac after production of the CT6 begins. Therefore Cadillac is not using the $12B to poach Buick and Chevrolet customers.
2) Have you seen the sales figures for the ATS?
They are at 23K. Chevrolet is at 1.9 million units YTD. I do not think anyone, except yourself, is worried about ATS feeding off potential Chevrolet clients.
3) Even if a few clients who were going to buy a ‘dressed up’ Malibu or Regal and decided instead to move up to a Cadillac ATS 2.5L,, the brass at GM would be pleased with that since the profit margins are better the higher up the food chain you go.
Last time I checked those $12B came from GM corporate which oversees all the divisions and at the end of the day all the profits and losses filter to the same place.
Get over your division mentality that has each one fighting the other for corporate resources and look at it more like the success of one ultimately benefits the others.