Not long ago, General Motors housed a quirky Swedish brand by the name of Saab in its once vast portfolio of brands. We don’t need to give you a history lesson on what happened to the marque following its meeting with the corporate ax, which sent the brand as we know it to the automotive graveyard along with Pontiac, Hummer and Saturn.
However, something has happened in the following years since Saab’s death. Another GM brand showed signs of life following the automaker’s corporate reorganization, and now, I personally want to make it official: Buick is the new Saab. I’m not sure how much my stamp of opinion means, but let me try and break it down.
Since the final nail was hammered into Old GM’s coffin, New GM has placed a heavy focus on honing each brand’s purpose here in North America, something much easier to accomplish with only four brands. Buick, in particular, has had quite the comeback story.
The brand came out ahead of the curve with the Encore crossover, igniting an explosion of sales for the tri-shield; the Verano compact served its duty as an entry-level luxury sedan at a time when Americans were buying smaller amid high fuel prices; the Cascada arrived to offer buyers an alternative to the pricey, German drop-top experience. Not only has the brand scored well with changing consumer perceptions, but the product is damn good, too.
And say what you will of these vehicles, but they’re quirky products. In a good way, though. You know another brand that was known for different, quirky products? The “born from jets” brand.
The 9-5 SportCombi was just one example of the brand’s quirky behavior.
Sure, Buick vehicles each share GM parts bin components, but they’re different or were very different when they launched. Now, here we are today with a four-door liftback Buick Regal, and the cherry on top that has solidified my opinion as Buick becoming an American spiritual successor to Saab: the 2018 Regal TourX.
Yes, Buick has done something no other U.S. automaker has tried in the last 10 years, that is, sell a wagon to mainstream America. No, I’m not counting the CTS-V wagon, since the vehicle was born under GM’s devoted luxury brand. Buick, as its marketing execs have described, is “attainable luxury.”
I’d reckon a lot of this comes from Buick’s “white space” mentality, which it coined a few years ago. The goal is to fill product niches where other brands, and specifically GM brands, aren’t playing in. Thus, we have a convertible, liftback sedan and now a station wagon to wage war on other vanilla products spanning dealerships.
The semi-disappointing part of the story is most of these products were still born from Europe with Opel. Now that GM has gone and sold the brand, I hope Opel’s special sauce continues to be a prominent ingredient in Buick’s success.
I say “Buick is the new Saab” in the highest regard because I always held Saab in a high regard. The brand took risks, did things differently and left us with some really great cars before saying “adjö.” And I think that’s exactly the kind of spirit Buick needs to retain to continue being one of GM’s best comeback stories in recent memory.
Let’s hope Buick isn’t finished filling in its white space just yet.
Comments
buick should be “buick”
big RWD v8 sedans and wagons, this is buick.
4 cyl small nasty chinese made sedan is NOT buick
Why limit yourself to V8, why not go back to 12 Liter straight 8 with giant 100 PS as in 1912?
Must be a dream for you!
Dude
60s or early 70s v8 make more power than todays 4 cyl or even v8
I think in 1970 cadillac 8.2 v8 make like 400 hp
Today GMs 8.1 make less than 340 hp
A) cadillac has engines that make over 400 hp.
B) Those cars weighed as much as an Escalade so it’s not a fair comparison.
A) Hp is not only thing
B) Average 70s cars weight is less than todays car(today saftey and new options make car heavier than 70s)
Dont talk if dont know
Your wrong, a 70 deville weighed over 5000 lbs and a ct6 weighs under 4000. And I don’t think an old Deville did 0-60 in 5 seconds either.
Deville weight was less than 5000 lbs . 4500 max . My Buick Electra 1970 same as a Deville 4300 . todays computers on cars are what makes them. If you would computerize the 1970 engines they would be more powerfull
Didn’t the horsepower rating system change; gross vs. net. As such, I believe those 60s numbers aren’t comparable to today’s.
That doesnt make big difference anyway.
Gross vs net makes a big difference.
Also we can make much more HP and Torque per liter today than ever.
I have a 2.0 that will do 300 HP and 340 Torque in a Solstice with the GM tune all day long.
As for weigh? Todays cars are lighter but more able to take an impact with out killing you. Just check the video of the 09 Malibu hitting a 59 Impala head on in an off set crash. The Bu has a front clip issue the Impala driver was pushed to the back seat.
We get it you are not happy and got left behind that is ok but don’t lie.
Yes you can guesstimate around a 15% difference give or take between Gross and Net with Gross being the higher number because the engines were tested unrestricted without power steering, a/c, air filters, and anything else that could sap power.
Which when you do the math on today’s engines and try and guess what their gross HP would be makes them even more impressive.
Of then there was the excessive underrating / overrating of horsepower that went on back in the sixties (and early seventies) which is another story.
No one buys this car anymore. Look at the SS.
Just look how many charger sold last year
And most of that use v8 engine
Just look how many v8 benz and bmw salling today
Dont act like stupid
not many
Yes most with the lowest ATP on the market and their numbers pale to the SUV and CUV numbers sold.
I disagree that no one buys this any more.
Don’t forget Oldsmobile! Never forget!
Good call. I agree with this comparison.
Overall, I think Buick is the best positioned of the four GM brands, even more so than GMC, as Buick is crossover-focused (where sales are rapidly shifting towards) and it has diversity within those crossovers (from small to big, for short to long). Additionally, they are (within each vehicle’s segment) appropriately priced higher than average.
I see Buick as the new Saturn; not as Saturn begun but as it ended. Before the brand went to the chopping block, it had become nothing more than a repository to rebadge and market to Americans products from other GM divisions worldwide. Buick has pretty much taken on that role today with their latest lineup being comprised of Chinese, Polish, Korean, and German rebadges.
So what will be the new Buick, when GM someday gets rid of Buick? You know it will happen, surprised it survived the last cutbacks.
Sorry, but Buick is pointless in the US. Yeah, its popular in China, but that doesn’t mean its necessary to keep this brand in the US. Cars are too generic to bother with marketing all these different brand names. GMC should be folded as a trim level into Chevy. Then GM is down to two simple easy names Chevy and Caddy.
GM sells roughly 60,000 units combined of Buick/GMC. These products sell at a higher price point than Chevrolet. Neither brand is expensive to produce.
Do you honestly think more than 60% of Buick and GMC buyers would stick with GM? Chevy is still a damaged brand and Buick GMC sell for a premium competing with Lexus, Acura, Lincoln, Infinity.
I’m a fan of big sweeping changes like this. Except not this specific idea. Buick is what keeps GM interesting at all.
Chris–Good observation! I, too, worry that Buick will become less special sans Opel, the additional cost sharing scale, and designer Mark Adams.
Buick (& Opel) represent the best of GM design and quality. Without doubt Buick makes cars with reliability on par with not just Lexus but the best global brands.
I see Buick evolving to the point where it covers many of the attributes once found in GMs other “middle brand”- Pontiac, Olds, Saturn and Saab.
Avista, if built, is a sophisticated Firebird, and a beautiful halo. Encore is very much like Saturn and Regal GS is Olds all the way!
GM must focus on presenting Buick as AWD/FWD luxury in league with Lexus: The Ying to Cadillac’s Yang. Hopefully GM can partner and source the next generation Insignia and Adam from Russelheim.
Sorry but the cascada and such are basically rebadged opel/vauxhall’s and are utter rubbish.
I currently drive a rather mundane 2010 saab 9-3 and would take it any day over the vague understeering mess that the 2016 insignia elite (buick sedan) I had as a long term hire was.
I’ve owned four vauxhalls/opens, never again!
Everything bad about modern saabs is where they’ve used opel parts.
Buick, or Opel which it really is, consists of mainstream cars light-years from what Saab really was.
Funny, not saying GM shouldn’t do this or that, but ten years ago people used to gripe about badge engineering at GM. Now we have brand engineering, where non-Buicks from all parts of the world are slapped with Buick emblems, and people can’t get enough of it (just so long as the emblem is red, white, and blue).
Given that over 4X as many Buicks were sold in China than in the United States, China will most likely decide the future that Buick takes just as China will decide the direction Chevrolet and Cadillac takes because if a vehicle model doesn’t sell in China, it’s unlikely that the car will exist very long except for the Corvette.
Exactly, Buick is essentially run by SAIC, not GM. Cadillac is moving in this direction as well, as the Chinese market sales will soon exceed NA sales. Most people could care less ( as evidenced by the Chinese built Envision), but personally I find it very disgusting.
That’s curious because a Chinese company is now making Saabs.
Why do they have to claim Buick is the new Saab ??? Buick is Buick and Saab was a Saab. Buick is suppose to be AMERICAN ,Saab was not . they are in two different ballparks and labeling as such in an insult to BUICK . WE all know what happened to Saab , if GM doesn’t start making all BUICKS in the USA it will be defunct like Saab. It looks like all these CEO’S and critics are walking around with their heads not getting any sunshine .
Saab was the up-market brand with vehicles based on platforms developed by Opel.
Coming out of its bankruptcy, GM shoved off the Saab brand. Other than with the current sale of Opel to PSA, no agreement could be reached for the continued use of GM-developed platforms (the just finished new Saab 9-5 was a cousin of the Opel Insignia and Buick Regal), with other companies interested in taking over the Saab brand.
Now Buick has replaced Saab as the up-market brand sourcing most of its models on Opel-developed platforms. Buick is — judging by its sales volumes — a brand mainly present in China; one might think of Buick’s relatively small North American footprint as material anchor for the perception of Buick in China as an US brand.
What will happen after the sale of Opel to PSA is concluded and when the life cycle of the current models, especially the just released new Buick Regal and Holden Commodore, is in the stars.
Agreed, furthermore without Opel driving most product development china (being by far buicks biggest market) will have an even larger influence on the Development of new Buick models.
Agreed. Buick needs the US market for that continued “premium US badge” perception in China. However if GM cannot lock in Opel-sourced product for the foreseeable future, brand quality perception will suffer/decline, particularly if Buick production comes to rely on Chinese or Korean sourced product.
I wonder if any GM personal read any of these public comments . most of them could be helpful if they got their heads out of the sand and read them . maybe they would sell more vehicles .
Is the Enspire in the works , will it be bigger than the Envision , and most important in must be made in AMERICA
Toyota Has had the Venza (wagon) out for a few years. It is not classified as an SUV. So perhaps Buick is just trying to get in a market that Toyota not only owns but has a very good product with renowned quality and ride
I owned two(2) Saab’s and currently own a 2017 Buick Lacrosse (essence). The only similairities between the two is that Buick should be defunct. My two Saab’s were the best vehicles I have ever owned, something I can not say for my Lacrosse. I have previously written about my Lacrosse. This is the worst car I have ever owned. Poorly designed Lacrosse being compared to the Saab is an insult. GM is the reason Saab is defunct. I am know for sure that Saab was a real threat to GM (Buick). Let’s not forget that Buicks Verano and Regal are Opel’s, rebadged for Buick, and provide them a little respect. I have previously commented on the poorly designed interior, after someone said it was so great. I also commented on the lack of space in the trunk, do not try to put a full set of luggage in there. I have wind noise and rattles in my Lacrosse as I have not experienced since I own a 1978 Trans Am, the last American designed vehicle I owned. I could go on for days, maybe I should just publish a book. For further info on my feelings for this car, just ask Mary at GM customer service.
if you didn’t like the exterior and interior design why did you buy the Lacrosse .. Myself driving a 2010 getting many excellent remarks on design on the complete car . the ride is great and very quite . I don’t know where your coming from but the Lacrosse will always come out ahead of saab
Tom G, How is the air on staff at GM. Enjoy Your 2010 Lacrosse. Remember you guy’s compared it to the SAAB. Buick should not be allowed to compare these vehicles, but this happens when your product is sub-par.