OK. I agree that Lexus is pure lux, and that Buick is targeting Lexus. Now: IF we can assume–at least for the moment–that Pontiac DOES return, why can’t it go after BMW, as it HAD been doing since 1973? I agree with you that BMW is performance lux. Well: Pontiac was a performance brand, right? And Pontiac has had elements of luxury. Look at such models as the old Luxury Le Mans. And you and I agreed earlier that while Pontiac can’t snag folks who CAN afford a BMW, it CAN snag those who CAN’T.
While I’m at it, I’d like to offer more evidence that Buick is–and always has been–a mainstream brand. As you may know from my previous posts, I’m a musclecar guy, so I’d like to think I know a thing or two about musclecars. Let’s select the year 1973, just out of a hat. In 1973, Buick had a midsize musclecar, the Gran Sport. That, of course, was Buick’s answer to Pontiac’s midsize musclecar, the GTO. In fact, Buick had the Gran Sport–again, a midsize musclecar– ever since 1965! (Pontiac had the GTO since ’64). If Buick wasn’t a mainstream brand, why did it have that musclecar? We’re agreed that Cadillac IS a luxury brand, right? Well, Cadillac DIDN’T have a midsize musclecar during that era. In fact, Cadillac didn’t even HAVE a midsize model, period. The fact that Buick DID have not only a midsize model (Skylark, and then after ’72, Century), but a midsize musclecar, proves that Buick was INDEED a mainstream brand, competing with OTHER mainstream brands like Pontiac, in the midsize market as well as the musclecar market. Cadillac–the luxury brand–competed in NEITHER. The only difference is that the Skylarks and Centurys were SUPPOSED to be more “luxurious” than the Pontiac Tempests and Le Manses (Pontiac’s midsize models) and the Gran Sports were supposed to be more “luxurious” than the GTOs, because Buick was more “upscale” than Pontiac. More-upscale, more luxurious, but a mainstream brand nonetheless. Buick wasn’t a luxury brand per se, for if it were, then like Cadillac it not only wouldn’t have had a musclecar during that era, it wouldn’t even have had a midsize model, period.
