General Motors has filed to trademark a new logo for the Buick brand, GM Authority has uncovered.
Filed on March 16th, 2022 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the application is assigned serial number 97314519. The application lists a variety of potential use cases under the Goods and Services category, including “motor land vehicles, namely Automobiles,” as well as for vehicle maintenance and repair and various branded accessories and apparel. A description of the logo included in the applications indicates it is comprised of “three stylized shields.”
This trademark application appears to be for a redesigned Buick shield logo that utilizes a more modern and current-day appearance. The existing version of the Buick logo utilizes three separate red, white and blue shields with a diagonal strike through them, which are encircled by a chrome frame. This version, by comparison, gets rid of the diagonal strike through the shields in favor of a different swoosh-style design element and also ditches the circular frame around the three shields. Trademark applications are not published in color, so it’s hard to say if the tri-color theme will be applied to this new logo.
Current Buick logo
The design of this logo appears as though it is intended to be backlit when mounted on a vehicle, similar to the monochromatic Cadillac logo used on the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq. This logo could therefore be slated for use on future Buick electric vehicles, like the pair of battery-electric crossovers it currently has in the works, for example. We imagine Buick’s marketing material and other promotional efforts would also change to incorporate this new logo once (or if) it is officially introduced.
Buick EV teaser
Buick is currently planning two separate battery-electric crossovers, which could be called Velite and Electra, if trademark filings uncovered by GM Authority previously are any indication. Buick also released a teaser image for one of these future Buick EVs last month, which showed a stylized LED headlamp affixed to the front fascia of a blue-painted mystery vehicle.
GM Authority will have all the official details on this new Buick logo once they become available. In the meantime, be sure to subscribe to GM Authority for more Buick news, GM trademark filing news, GM electric vehicle news and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
So stupid. When is the last time you saw Honda or Toyota change their logo’s? If you can’t recall, it’s because they don’t do it. This is where I give those two companies credit. They stick to what sells and what people know and recognize. They stick with products even when they aren’t selling in the top spots. They stick with names. Everyone on here knows I don’t believe for a second that their vehicles are any better than average, but they stick to things. GM? Heck no! If a car isn’t selling in the top 5, then away it goes. Get new blood in the manager’s chair and they don’t like a name or logo? Away it goes. And this is a pattern of behavior that GM continues to play out time and again.
So some may tell me to calm down. It’s only an emblem. Is it? Just like the Cadillac emblem that they are now trashing for some stupid mono-tone and dropping things from the emblem that make the company what it is and has been. It’s not just an emblem. It’s not just about tradition. GM really (REALLY) needs to take some lessons from their Asian counterparts. Instead GM just keeps confusing people to the point where they have no clue what they have or offer and they no longer care. These people will just go buy another Camry because their neighbor has one and they’ve had a Camry for the last 10 cars.
BTW, Buick/GM tried this back in the 90’s and it didn’t go over well. They eventually went back to the tri-color emblem.
Toyota and Honda are winners while Buick is still not a popular brand. Most people associate with Grandma. Buick lacks any cool factor and is less aspirational than Acura.
Typically I am against shallow efforts at rebranding. How many efforts will it take for Cadillac to release that logo isn’t the problem? Vauxhall, VW, BMW have all recently tweaked logos for online advertising for a bolder look.
Many automakers have updated logos in the past: Chrysler, Dodge, Chevrolet, Kia, Cadillac and Buick just to name a few. This is good with Avenir on sale, too.
The swoop looks a bit like the new headlight.
@SteveA: Hmm. Toyota and Honda are winners? I’m not sure exactly what you meant by that, but Buick is certainly not a loser nor is GM. If I’m not mistaken, Buick still sells better than Acura and I’m certainly don’t think Acura is an “inspirational” brand.
Oh, and if you want to see old people driving mostly a certain brand any more, look no farther than Toyota.
Lastly, I personally feel that GM constantly changing stuff like this (and spending way too much money doing so instead of putting that money towards improvements and new product) is why some of the brands struggle so much. If GM is listening, here’s what I’d tell them.
1. Stop dropping good names with brand recognition.
2. Leave emblems alone. Changing them isn’t going to bring the customers they think and it alienates others.
3. Take the money spent on stupid stuff like this and put it into upgraded materials and features.
4. Give Buick at least two sedans (cars) and stop pushing the nothing but SUV/CUV stuff.
Don’t forget Olds changing their logo just before they were cancelled.
I was once one of the biggest GM fans there was. That’s why I still come here but honestly they’ve been so mismanaged, I have no residual love for them. In fact, I pretty detest them now. I still hope for a better future but sadly I don’t think that day will ever come. Every time I look at this website hoping for something good, there’s nothing but more bad decisions. Pretty much all the brands and all the models have been dropped and destroyed. They really only have trucks and a few SUVs left that they stick different badges on. Sorry but an Escalade will never be a real Cadillac in my eyes and the Opel Mokka isn’t a real Buick. They might as well change the logo because none of it really matters any more. Why cling to a logo when everything it stood for is long gone.
I wish the government had let gm go bankrupt and be sold off. Rolls Royce has flourished under BMW ownership and Buick and Cadillac probably would’ve done far better in the hands of more capable management. The decline of gm is heartbreaking for all of us who grew up with them and loved everything they once built.
yawn..
Yep it is as bad as the lower case GM logo.
Ci2Eye: I try to read all comments left on an article where I am also commenting. I find that it may help me understand things better or hopefully see other points of view. Yes, I often won’t agree with many and if I know about a subject or feel passionately abut it, I will stand my ground unless someone has proof or logical reasoning behind a view I don’t share. I always read your comments and know that in the past you and I seemed to agree on most everything. Lately it seems like we are on two very different paths, and that’s ok. What you just said above really makes sense and I do find myself agreeing with you on most of it. I’m still a GM guy and probably will be forever. However I find it more and more difficult to be that GM guy. The only thing that has kept me thus far is the fact that I really don’t agree with nor like what almost any of the other brands are doing. Just a couple quick examples: I can’t get onboard with Ford just based on the huge and totally ugly screens taking over the interiors. Chrysler brands are just losing me based on lack of product and they too are moving to the ugly screens (Jeeps??). The entire industry is pushing SUV’s on us so much that it’s really sad. Lastly, I refuse under all circumstances to spend any of my money on any Japanese brand and have a difficult enough time doing so on a Korean brand or an American brand assembled in China.
So for now I stick with GM and will admit that I have had really good luck with the products I’ve owned. But the stupid decisions they continue to make and the stuff they continue to push on us is certainly wearing thin on me.
Yea like non stop suv/cuv/truck and completely ditching the sedans. I wait each day to see some article on here saying gm has just announced the Cadillac CT4 & CT5 will cease production on such & such date.
Ricky,
I do too. I seriously expect CT4 and CT5 to be canceled any day now. They basically have been out-of-production for long stretches of time for the last year or more so how much longer can they last. Personally I’ve never seen a CT4 and I’ve only seen a few CT5s.
Ding ding ding.
The people who most detest image (logo) changes are the ones who currently own those brands. Chances are the logo had nothing to do with
their decision to buy the brand in the first place but the change makes them think they bought a product that now requires revision, change or
improvement. They, clearly, won’t be repeat customers.
Ci2Eye, very well put. I feel the same way, but things change over time and the young people taking over GM in design and management want to make their mark on the world. We old folk will become less influential in terms of purchasing power, and the dynamics of the marketplace will change from major manufacturers (i.e. GM, Ford Stellantis) to smaller more focused companies such as Tesla, which by the way everyone should support because it is the only true American manufacturer of vehicles.
Funny thing is, one of the outcomes of this new dynamic is the meteoric rise in the price of old cars from GM.
Hubster:
I see Elon Musk unloading Tesla in five years. You always want to sell a horse while it is standing on all four legs. As more EV players come into the game with their dealer networks, this will really dilute Tesla’s current standing. Tesla’s purely has a limited cult following at this time.
Looks like sheet, bring back the colored tri-shield!
Dan Berning you really gotta calm down. You’re sounding like you just got the Buick logo tattooed and boom this article comes out
I did. How did you know? haha.
Anyhow, I’m calm and all. Just sick of GM making really stupid moves like this. Or maybe I should say I’m really tired of over-paid morons in the ivory tower making stupid decisions like this while ignoring more important things like, well you know, actually advertising Buick while having only 4 models of the same stuff. Yes, I’m referring to having only 4 models and all 4 are SUV/CUV’s.
The chinamen will love it!
AMEN to everything you say here. And yes Buick tried this before with an all silver Buick shield only to return to the original tri-color shield. Nothing like trying to confuse the consumer.
To your point about Honda/Toyota – this goes beyond logos. Everyone knows a Camry or Corolla but ask folks about a GM subcompact most would not know . . . a Cavalier/Cobalt/Cruze???? In the lifespan of these 3 different Chevy nameplates Toyota/Honda held strong with Corolla/Civic – no better way to create greater brand loyalty. The flipside here, if you have a crappy product that few are buying why keep the name.
And to take this a step further, I argue this applies to new Rado EV and just previewed Nox EV. Same name on completely different models – if that doesn’t scream confusion not sure what does. I recently went to a Ford dealer, I’m looking at the new Bronco Sport, the salesman starts showing me the regular Bronco and rattling off reg Bronco stats. Confusing for even the dealers. Both GM and Ford have a history of prestigious fabled names – choose one and stick with it? And offer a truly great product. Instead of choosing a new name when you bring out a new model, keep the name and build on (improve) the product.
The Japanese Masters of the Universe aren’t impervious to this BTW….
Whats the current Infiniti range called? Q something? Acura? TLX? RLX? Integra now again?
Toyota even seems to like to spread the Prius and Corolla nameplates across several cars like Oldsmobile did with Cutlass back in the 1980’s.
Wanna talk about BMW’s I, IX X3, X3, 3 is now a 4 and 1 is now a 2 naming scheme? Why does BMW still feel the need to brag about fuel injection by putting an “i” on their models, its 2022, lawn mowers are fuel injected too…..
AMEN to everything you say here. Yes Buick tried a monochrome all silver logo only to revert to the tri-color shield.
This doesn’t just apply to logos. Take subcompacts – everyone knows a Corolla and Civic but ask about a GM subcompact and most don’t know . . . Cavalier/Cobalt/Cruze. in the lifespan of these 3 Chevy names Toyota/Honda held strong with Corolla/Civic. No better way to create brand loyalty. The flipside, if you have a crappy product that few are buying why keep the name. But I would argue loyalty and familiarity is important, focus on building a great product.
I argue this also applies to the Rado EV and Nox EV the same name on two completely different models (different platforms and different looking) – if that doesn’t cream confusion not sure what does. I recently went to a Ford dealer, I’m looking at the Bronco Sport, the salesman took me to a reg Bronco and rattles off specs for the reg Bronco. It’s even confusing for the dealers.
GM and Ford have a history of prestigious fabled names, choose one and stick with it. The same goes with logos.
I’d like this in say…. Embossing the seats…… embedded in the dash in small corners….. very clean, neat design, but replacing the main logo????? Heck no! Buick is supposed to be big and chromatic. Not as opulent as Cadillac, but all the same…. Keep this as is. Buick needs to focus resources on endeavors, like Say having more than 4 domestic models and 8 models overall in China.
IMHO, bring over the Chinese Cadillac CT6, drop in the 2.7HO, stop it down a bit, rebadge it as the lacrosse, and personally, make it a 5 hatch sedan like they have in Europe (aka a station wagon with a fastback profile). Land barges may come back with high gas prices yet Americans unwillingness to compromise size.
IMO Better yet, 2 CT5 based Buicks, Lacrosse with a hatch and a base notchback Regal, 2 models, one sedan. Also an CT5 based SS and a police/cab/fleet model (Lumina?). The current Regal can be the next Malibu for a volume car
why 3 equal ? if has no colours, leave only 1 !
The colored version looks better and is growing on me.
Liked the monochrome but it didn’t look premium. If this change happens every GM brand will have a new logo except Big Red
No, they’ll screw up big red….. and make it lowercase red like lowercase gm
With no color they’ll probably save 10 cents on each badge. Very GM.
What are those finger nails?
ginsu knives
.. kkk indeed … seems an electric shaver …
Hopefully the red, white, and blue is gone in favor of black and white so it will be cheaper to produce and eliminate any ties to the USA.
Better yet, since it’s becoming a Chinese make, all three in red.
Sales issues will not be influenced one iota by changing the insignia. Why not spend the money and effort on something that will influence a potential buyer to buy a Buick?
Martin: Exactly!! I’d go one step further. By once again changing something that is clearly not broken they create more confusion among buyers. It may seem simple, but some buyers are so simple minded that they may see this “new” Buick emblem and not realize that it’s a Buick. They may then think that Buick no longer exists and not even consider them for the next car. I know some of this sounds strange, but being in this business I see and hear some of the most stupid stuff from buyers. All of us on here really need to keep in mind that we are the exception to the rule and not the norm. Even with my experience and time with Buick over the years, I’m not sure I would have recognized that as a Buick emblem myself if it wasn’t listed in the article’s title. Had I seen yet another SUV driving down the street with that emblem, I wouldn’t know it’s a Buick.
So yes, they need to spend that wasted money on better Buick marketing.
I heard somewhere that some people wouldn’t consider Oldsmobile because “old” was part of its name. Did you ever witness that?
Lurch: I never sold “new” Oldsmobiles. I did sell a lot of used ones though. Anyway, I never heard that before.
To me, it looks like something from the ’40s or ’50s.
One word: ventiports
I really like the old logo and I’m was glad to see that they finally colored it but now they’ve taken it away
I like the red white and blue tri shield but I was thinking how they did the Cadillac change and I didn’t like it at first but now I do. It’s more of a brand image less busy like the bow tie. I’d rather see one prominent shield
Ever notice how close the present Cadillac shield/logo is to the Chevrolet shield of the early 50’s? Every time I see a new Cadillac, Chevy comes to mind about the logo that logo.
Let’s face it, Buick as we know it has left the United States. A lineup that’s 75% foreign with the lowest atp, if that doesn’t scream Geo I don’t know what does. This is what Mary Smith has brought you. Change the logo all you want but until you can change forty plus years of absolutely horrendous management this is what you get.
Jofa,
Mary Smith? Is that a Freudian slip? Her name is Mary Barra although I can see why one would confuse her with Roger B. Smith. Roger nearly killed GM. I think Mary is about to finish what Roger started.
Ci2Eye,
I think you’ve answered your own question. There is no confusion. The correlation between the two is plain as day. What Roger started as the gift of market share to foreign nameplates. Mary is more than happy to continue with labor and production in 3rd and 4th world countries. Quite the pair of bookends they make. The novels in between, how to ruin the largest corporation in the world.
Question: why?
The very first thing I thought of was three “stylish” USB flash drives.
There it is. Bland, colorless, no real meaning, no nothing.
GM continues to think marketing and logos are the problem. After decades they now have ok commercials (not great) but we all know the problem is the product.
Buick is a waste of time. GMC is barely excusable these days, thanks to the Silverado being a bit awkward.
Buick is a waste? my wife traded her toyota for a new Buick Verano 10 years ago,she still drives the crap out of it Problems? yea she had to buy a new battery a few years ago, has worn out 3 sets of tires averaging about 60K miles each, that’s the extent of her problems…. don’t try to sell her a toyota, she might slap ya……
Dan,
Sometimes I’m just being cynical and pointing out the hypocrisy of gm, especially as it relates to their “commitment” to carbon neutrality. I think many don’t see the real point I’m making which is my fault I suppose; perhaps you too misunderstand me. I find it to be the height of hypocrisy to claim to care about the environment but then to drop essentially every product but huge gas-guzzling SUVs/trucks and then to build 9,100 pound behemoth EVs. I wish Barra would just be honest with herself and the public.
When I was growing up, I pretty much loved everything GM built from Camaros to Cadillacs and I must not have been alone as they sold over 50 percent of the cars on American roads back then. Today they’re down to 17 percent and their share is still falling. If gm today offered to give me a few free vehicles, there is absolutely nothing I’d ask for. As a kid, I would’ve had a very hard time picking out my top three or four.
So while I’m tempted to rant and rave as you do about the logo, what’s the point? Who cares? Buick is gone. They’re a repository brand like Saturn became in their final years. It signals the end is near for Buick in America. The logo was likely changed to appeal more to Chinese consumers. Mismanagement at gm alienated all the American Buick and Cadillac buyers. The same mismanagement killed off Holden in Australia and resulted in a sell-off in Europe. The Chinese is really all GM has left so they can’t care about Americans any more. They have to cater to the only market they haven’t destroyed their prospects in.
Ci2Eye: You got it.
So very true! When I think back to grandparents, parents that were so loyal to GM, even though they have all passed, glad they are not living to see what a mess gm is today.
My grandpa worked 49 years at “The Buick” in Flint. He would be saddened to tears at what Buick (built in Poland, Germany, South Korea, and China), Flint, and “gm” have become today.
Waste of time & money. I hate when brands do this.
The current “clean” version of the tri-shied dates to around 1985, before that it had more detailing inside the shields, with little crosses and deer heads in it, plus a checkerboard patter in the slashes across. Before that, the circle around the shields was added in the 1970’s.
This logo sort of goes back to the earlies tri-shields from the 1960’s that just had the shields but no ring around them, I don’t hate it. Not sure where everyone is convinced it wont have color just because the trademark drawing is in black and white.
If I could change 2 things, I would put the shields closer together and keep them staggered as they are now. It looks like a fancy version of the Monster energy drink logo without the stagger.
What happen to the Buick Enspire EV, I would have leased that Buick Soon as it came out ??? Waiting 5 years!
Waste of time and money which could have been better spent elsewhere on something that matters.
Here we go again GM wasting time and money to change a nameplate . Buick was never as popular as Oldsmobile or Pontiac that should have been kept and not Buick . Maybe Buick should have produced a sedan so buyers didn’t go to foreign brands , if i remember correctly Buick is an American Brand WHY is it assembled in communist CHINA. How about the Poor marketing .
Disgusting! Overdue for a change in CEO. Time for someone with Sales and Marketing experience and an engineering background. Too bad Ed Mertz has passed. He is the type of person needed in charge of GM. Right now the lunatics are running the asylum.
Am I the only one who see’s what they are trying to do with this logo? I think its pretty obvious that the shields are stylized “7” “7” “7”. Clearly a not-so-clever ploy to appeal to the Chinese customer base… I think many of us here on this forum still remember when “The Great American Road Belonged to Buick”, but that ship has long sailed. If any of you were able to witness the embarrassingly pathetic Buick display tucked away in the corner at this year’s Chicago Auto Show (I think they only had 2 cars with gobs of empty space and little to no signage/displays), you’ll see just how much of an afterthought Buick is in the eyes of GM for the U.S. market. What was once a great American car marque, and the original corporate backbone from which literally the entirety of General Motors was created from, is now relegated to a few unremarkable, seldom marketed, badge-engineered CUV’s. I’m sure Buick’s target market of 50-65 year-old woman will be running to the dealership to sign new LEASES once this new logo hits the lots…
Why don’t they go with a modified vintage Buick retro crest seal from the early fifties? These were really cool.
Put some color into the logo with the name Buick within. This new design is so bland and generic. The Chinese would love the vintage retro design.
The cost to produce a Chevy and a Caddy is the same with the same engine options. The mechanical guts and wiring/electrical is the same. Assembly time is the same. The difference between the two brands are the cosmetics. Trims, nameplates, and exterior body jewelry. Hype and promotion produce the higher price difference. It’s a marketing game for suckers. Most car buyers do not know or understand vehicle guts and their similarities.
Yes Toyota followed Gm by turning Toyota rebadged cars sold only in Japan and selling them as Lexus, lol. My niece lived in Japan for 4 years for the U.S. Air Force, her secretary is a Japanese citizen. This lady, her cousin is a manager at the factory that builds the Toyota Cressida/Lexus LS, we got a tour of the plant, at the end of the assembly line the only difference was the oval badge insert in the grille and trunk and steering wheels on the right for the Toyota Cressida and left for the Lexus LS, they learned well from following GM. The Cressida was selling over there for $35,000.00 and the Lexus LS was shipped to N.A.
and selling for the mid $60,000,00. That was why Toyota made such huge profits from the North America. Toyota Japan did not have the North America Toyota Avalon, so they sold it in Japan as a Lexus for much more than the North America.