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Buick Announces Avenir Sub-Brand To Join Future Products In 2018

Buick is putting the Avenir into production, just not in the traditional sense. Likely stemming from the success of GMC’s Denali range of vehicles, Buick has announced it will launch its Avenir sub-brand for the 2018 model year.

Buick says the decision to launch Avenir is a reflection of its growing customer base, with one in two new Buick customers coming from a competing brand. Meanwhile, 90 percent of Enclave customers choose one of the top two trim levels. Avenir is meant to reinforce the unexpected luxury found in Buick.

“Through the first half of 2016, Buick has been the industry’s fastest-growing major international brand, and Avenir is key to future growth and delivering on the high expectations of new customers coming to our showrooms,” said Duncan Aldred, vice president of Global Buick Sales, Service and Marketing. “Avenir will be Buick’s signature. The highest expression of the luxury experiences we’re delivering now and in the future.”

So, what’s in a name? Buick states Avenir vehicles will be “concept car” inspired and add distinct touches such as a three-dimensional mesh grille, larger wheels and unique trim finishes.

Buick wouldn’t go into much detail, but did state the interior will feature unique seat details, modern trim materials and Avenir script identification.

Where can we expect Avenir to show up? That’s also not disclosed for now, but you bet Enclave and Envision will be recipients of the Avenir touch.

Former GM Authority staff writer.

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Comments

  1. I like this idea! It does well at emphasizing Buick’s premium status in the marketplace, leaving Cadillac to move even further into upper tier luxury status.

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    1. I agree. My wife and I have a GMC and a Buick vehicle. It makes sense to offer an upper tier. We are pleased with the Buick and intend on replacing it with another Buick. It will draw even more people to the brand and keep those loyal to the brand.

      Reply
  2. It will also be applied to the Lacrosse.

    This is a way to increase profits with the Buick line and that is a smart move. Just as GMC really adds very little content to the Denali line they return much higher profits.

    These upper trimmed cars still would not crowd Cadillac either.

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    1. Don’t getme wrong, I like the idea, but maybe all Buick models should adopt Aveair touches in the effort to better compete in the Acura-Infinity-Genisis space.
      It’s okay for Buick and Cadillac to occasionally step on one another’s toes.

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      1. I like to keep things kinda simple. If there is to be an Avenir line I’d like Buick to have two trim levels: Buick and Avenir. Now, of course, within each trim their could be packages.

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      2. This is not about stepping on toes.

        The key here is Cadillac is moving to a segment where they will step up the interiors and engines beyond anything Buick will have.

        Cadillac also will focus on RWD/AWS.

        Buick on the other hand will be what Cadillac is leaving behind. They will focus on FWD/AWD and while they will offer fine cars they will lack the little things that will make a Cadillac a Cadillac in the future.

        They will fit that mid market and they will offer cars shared with Opel they could not do on their own like a Wagon or Convertible. We should see some more Opel based product in the future that Buick could not do with out global help. Also Opel could get the GT if it shares it with Buick and sells it in Australia with the new Opel line there as well as a Buick in China.

        The fact is once all three divisions get to where they want to be there will be more than enough room for all. In a time of growth there will be some over lap and even gaps.

        As for the Avenir line it is just the same formula GMC has used to great profits and image. You spice models up with some extra trim, larger wheels and maybe a standard electronic suspension and you can reap more profits for all the little content you add.

        The truth is the Denali package price is generally a good amount over the SLT package but content wise in most not all models is modest. Take the Terrain. Some lights and trim, stitching and wood on the wheel but yet they mark up the model a good bit for all you get. Nothing wrong with it if that is what you want and more power for GM if they can get the price. People like the image of having a top model that stands out and they are willing to pay for it so take the money.

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        1. Scott- “Stepping on toes” is actually okay on that it provides GM with two unique opportunities to attract the luxury customer.
          Business schools, including Harvard, teach classes on this using Hyundai and Kia’s mad dash to amass market share as a key example.
          Buick/Avenir and Cadillac are even better in that GM chases unique demos: Plush and athletic luxury.
          With both GMC and Buick pimping high end trim General Motors has the potential to, in less than one decade, reap me than half it’s profits via both refined and Cowboy luxury.

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    2. The Sierra and Yukon Denali lines sport Magnetic Ride Control, which is a serious mechanical upgrade. Well worth the money, especially with the 6.2 EcoTec. Deadly smooth.

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      1. I was hoping they’d add it to the Canyon.

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        1. They already have added Denali to the Canyon. If your dealer doesn’t have one in stock, they can order it.

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  3. Buick needs to die in North America. Let it become a China-only brand. But here it needs to die. The General has made hard decisions before. This decision would be easy.

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    1. You are way off.
      Buick is still an important brand in NA. It accounted for 223000 units sold with good profit margins compared to Chevrolet models.

      Since GM has to split profits 50/50 with their Chinese joint venture partners each NA Buick sale is worth about 3 Chinese market sold unit.

      Also part of the reason Buick is very popular in China is because it is American with a long history.

      Buick is heading for a sales resurgence in the next couple of years.
      -Lacrosse is completely redesigned and just out.
      -Envision will sell more with the lower priced models now available.
      -Enclave will be all new in the next 12 months or so.
      -Regal is also not far off.
      -Recent spy shots of a Opel wagon on the roads of Michigan and reports of it being shown to focus groups could lead to a version for Buick.
      -Encore refresh will help maintain sales.

      Things are looking up for Buick in NA so why would you kill it?

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    2. The truth is that Buick is the one division that is more truly global than any GM division. The mix of markets Buick, Opel and Vauxhall cover more areas than Chevy or any other GM brand in area and volume.

      With China it makes Buick able to provide a good profit here and not be held responsible for the cost of all the development.

      To me in time Buick will be seen as an advantage here as Ford struggled to sell there premium models that were just way over priced Ford.

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      1. Agree for the most part about the value of Buick but it is not a global brand. It’s model make up consists of vehicles from various brands but Buick does not have global reach in that it only operates in a few markets where as Chevrolet sells products in more than 100 countries.

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        1. It is the same car mechanically in most ways and most models. This gives them the ability to leverage the cost over more markets and even more limited like models like the possible Buick wagon and convertible coupe,

          Buick, Opel and Vauxhall are very closely related and in more markets than any other GM car. Soon coming to Australia too.

          Buick is much like GMC and is a channel to added profits and lower volume models.

          Give the time and rebuilding of Buick we have really yet to see Buick will be able to address many niche models that Chevy and others could never make a business case on. The GT model could easily be a Buick. All the OPC models could become Buicks and be sold at a price and volumes Chevy could never make a business case for.

          We have yet to see the potential.

          Right now Buick and Opel have been benefiting by the sales and cost sharing with the models sold in China. This has delayed the changes here. Also the drive for more profitable SUV models are being addressed first. In time I see more and diverse cars coming here.

          GM and Buick has spoken of the white space cars that are cars few others offer here. The Convertible is the first and next appears to be the wagon. One can only imagine and look to Opel see what is possible.

          It is the one path to make a higher profit on limited models due to the lack of global and euro presents at Chevy.

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      2. Scott, Opel/Vauxhall sell all over Europe, South Africa, Israel, Egypt and a few others. Buick really just in China, some Korea. Chev is all over Central and South America, The Middle east, parts of Eastern Europe, India,Korea,China, Asian countries like Taiwan,Malaysia, Thailand, South Africa etc etc

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        1. I know Opel is all over I only named their core markets where their more expensive models are sold and shared with Buick. But you make my point how they are global.

          Chevy sells in many markets but mostly in name only. Many of their models share little to nothing with the products we have here. Most of the countries you point out the cars are not sold here at all or they are often changed much to the point they are not much help in a global effort to reduce development cost. Case in point the Colorado. It shares little with the model here and most other markets. The same applies to many of the cars. Even the Cruze is sold in many markets but yet it is either the older model or one that shares little in common with the car we have now.

          On the other hand Buick is moving to share more closely with Opel on many models and will sell them here and China. With only a few stray models. The SUV models will be shared with Opel and some with the other American GM divisions.

          The bottom line is Buick right now would not have a low volume convertible if not for Opel. Buick appears to be investigating a Wagon and that would not happen if it did not share one from Opel.

          Opel need to share development cost as they are outrageous in Europe and else where. Buick gives the added volume on their models that permits them to be more profitable.

          While other companies like Mazda and Fiat or Toyota and BMW partner to share cost GM is able to do this here with sister divisions. Best if you can keep it in the family and not hurt the other divisions in and shared markets.

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    3. Right. Buick is the highest rated GM brand and you want to eliminate it.

      Smaaaaaarrrrttt

      Reply
  4. I also like this idea. It will also be interesting to see how Buick will differentiate say a normal Lacrosse with a Aviner trimmed Lacrosse or whatever the model happens to be. I hope they start adding more colorful interior options. GM seems to be somewhat conservative when it comes to interior colors and trims compared to other companies and what is starting to get offerd.

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  5. This is an excellent move for Buick . Their models are well received by consumers and it will be a cash cow in China that already sees the division as ultra luxury . It has worked well for GMC where the Denali trim attracks people that want that little bit extra luxury in their trucks and SUV’s .
    It’s a given that we will see the LaCrosse in Avenir trim which may turn into their halo car . I don’t see them doing this to their entire line-up , that would work against them .
    Is Cadillac watching this ……….. they might learn something other than V-Sports and V-Series . Wasn’t there a plan to use the Escalade name as its own premium series a while back ?!?

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    1. I have been saying for while that Cadillac needs an ultra luxury brand to sit above ‘Platinum’ which is so generic these days.
      Maybe they could use a name from the past to call that higher trim level.

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      1. I think Cadillac used to call it FLEETWOOD.

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        1. Fleetwood was actually a model onto itself back when it really was a special car. The name was reduced to a full size model by the end.

          Back in the day it was a longer wheel based model and generally was considered a special model and not a added trim package.

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          1. Don’t forget Cadillac at one time had its own sub brand in LaSalle even though it did not last long.

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            1. That’s what I was thinking. It seems I remember something like that.

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            2. In fact most GM lines back in the 20’s had sub brands inside their brands. The only one to survive long was Pontiac. Many forget Viking, LaSalle and the others.

              GM does not want to get back to one of their issues of too many models like they had. They would like to do trims as they are much easier to do, more profitable and easier to eliminate later should the need arise. .

              Lutz says today one of his failures was not making Hummer a GMC model or sub brand. Making it a stand alone was expensive and when it came time to kill it that just made it all the more expensive to make it go away. No Added admin cost and no expense of franchises buy outs or lawsuits etc.

              You want a trim level to go away you remove it from the web site. Done,

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        2. I can picture it now: Fleetwood vs. Maybach. Matches perfectly in mission.

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  6. So is this like the Denali line in GMC?

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    1. Yes!!!! It is a trim level on a model not an entirely new model.

      It is a good way to wring more profits from the cars you have as most additions are cheap to add and the price can go up much more than the cost to add.

      That is what GMC is doing and marketing very well. Just look at what the Denali give you and the added price and you can see how this has really helped the GMC profits.

      Reply
  7. Wait is Avenir just a trim or is it an actual sub brand like with other cars because the way it’s explaned on the Buick web site it sounds like Avenir will have some of its own cars. I’m confused but still excited.
    A dream of mine is that Buick stops being a rebadge of Opel and the they bring Opel to the US as brand above Chevy. I think Buick could work again as GMs other luxury brand rather then a premium brand. I think Opel could work in the US too as a niche European brand.
    For instance it could attract the people who like VW( mainly the golf). I bet that those people, if Buick did a rebadge of the astra wouldn’t give it a shot but if it was Opel then that would attract people who go for the European brands.

    Reply
    1. No it at this point is only a upper level trim added to an existing Buick model. Just as Denali is added to existing GMC models.

      This is purely a trim package only.

      Think of it as like the Wolfsburg trim on a VW line.

      Reply
  8. I’m thinking, at some point, the Avenir sub brand vehicles may not have the Buick name on them.
    The idea of going with a sub brand strategy to move Buicks into higher luxury status is a good one.
    i wonder if The Avenir strategy will also be for the China market as well?

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    1. China would be a no brainier.

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  9. How low does GM want Buick to go? A Vauxhall-like Opel companion brand battles on the success of Encore/Mokka?
    Only a cheapening of Buick allows for the creation of a Titanium/Vignole (Ford) or C (Chrysler) upmarket designation.
    Buick will now have the freedom to increase volume by selling more mass market Opel-like product while allowing Avenir to handle upmarket varients.
    Another theory is that Barra is losing faith in Cadillac as a global brand. That she sees good enough Lexus as a more realistic target. Also, Avenir could easily be sold in Europe as Opel and Vauxhall and AU through Holden.

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  10. Fleetwood would be a decent name for a sub-brand . Also lets not forget the ” Brougham ” designation that was used for upscale trim on existing models .
    I also like the cursive Avenir badge instead of block lettering for Buicks luxury cars . It’s old school I know but that doesn’t mean Buick can’t revive it .

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  11. Wonder how much the customized “Avenir” versions of the Enclave will be?

    Reply

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