Even if Buick isn’t exactly topping sales charts, one thing is certain: the brand has done an excellent job in piquing interest in itself.
New data from the most-searched vehicles on Google, published by The Detroit Free Press, shows Buick has a hold on the Midwest and the plains. The Buick Cascada topped results in Missouri and Indiana, while the Buick Enclave was the darling of North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Iowa and Kentucky. The Buick Encore was the favorite in Wisconsin.
Strangely enough, in the state of Michigan, Lincoln led the way with its compact MKC crossover.
Google searches are highly dependant on buzz and can’t really be attributed to just someone looking for more information. Why does that factoid hold some truth? Honda, a major automaker in the United States didn’t carry a single state and the Ford F-150 was on no state’s collective mind. The F-15o has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for decades.
Buick has certainly been buzz-worthy with an aggressive, quirky ad campaign and marketing strategy. And even though the Cascada may not be flying off of dealership lots, it does serve its purpose as a sort of crown jewel—a convertible? From Buick? The commercial writes itself.
Comments
It is all the Pontiac buyers.
Ground zero for Pontiac sales was always Chicago.
I’ve always felt that Buick’s job is to cover the spaces left behind by Pontiac, Olds, old Caddie and Saturn in a more polished and luxurious manner.
Regal does this well–exciting FWD with nodern design since above average luxury touches.
Morgan Stanley is correct: With Avenir Buick can do internal combustion luxury while Cadillac takes on Tesla and Lucid who’s AIR concept redefines 21century luxury.
Well in a way yes but with restrictions.
Buick fills the void between Cadillsc but it has had the limitations of being what ever Opel was with Added SUV models.
Also the needs of China have been added on top of that.
I ponder now with Opel out of the picture that Buick will continue with the SUV models but could use some of the platforms that Cadillac has and make their own version of them . My thinking is once Cadillac moves up on a new Alpha Buick could see one or two luxury sport models to fill the gap,
The show car responses on the RWD models got their attention but the timing was not good as GM has so much more on their plate tight now.
My hope is as they set the table at Chevy and Cadillac they dill finally be able to fill the white space with some soecisl models at Buick.
I looked at that Free Press article –
It’d be interesting to see a search map vs purchase map, and how they do (or don’t) line up.
Don’t see Cadillac popping up anywhere. But this is seach (not sales) so, difficult to reach a conclusion.
Buick does need to fill the performance and luxury gaps between Chevy and Cadillac. The target demographic is people who are successful but not showy. A luxury AWD sedan with all the safety features–in reality a Cadillac in a business suit– is what I would buy.
Lot’s of former loyal Chevrolet buyers where we’re at have bought new Buick’s instead of Chevy’s over the last 5-7 years. I know several and have witnessed this over and over again. This all started with 2 models. The 2010 LaCrosse and Enclave…
The loss for Chevrolet was mostly former Malibu and (some) Impala buyers switching over to either the new Ford Fusion or Buick LaCrosse. Both were just so much nicer. More trims, more options, but most importantly, both had jaw dropping good looks/curb appeal when they launched. I’ve always maintained that if the last Malibu had looked like the LaCrosse instead, it would have put up a real fight against Ford’s Fusion. The Traverse lost sales to the Enclave as well. With the Enclave though, not only did it take customers from Chevrolet, it also took a few customers from former Ford Explorer buyers.
This has also happened with Chevrolet truck buyers getting new GMC’s or even Ford’s and Dodge’s instead. That’s been going on since the 07/08 timeframe model. I’ve seen it again and again. 100% due to styling and options. There’s no doubt that GM’s best looking designs are at your Buick/GMC dealer. Not so much at Chevrolet/Cadillac… I hope the latter can get their designs going back in the right direction again.