Which Automaker Is The Furthest Out Of Touch With Reality?

If someone mentions the name Buick, a certain image is conjured: comfortable, plush, American motoring just on the blue-collar side of luxury. Buicks used to be the working man’s Cadillac, an association doctors leveraged when making house calls. After all, showing up in a Cadillac would really show the patient how much you were about to screw them upon leaving the bill on the nightstand.

But, in more recent times, Buick has become more of a Chevrolet+. Taut suspensions, journo brown interiors and lukewarm engine choices. Oh, and there’s the Encore, a cute ute powered by one of the roughest, smallest engines you can buy in North America. What gives?

Before people start thinking I’m on a General Motors focused tirade, there are a number of other marques out there as well that have seemingly “lost their way.”

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TheSteve - 5/21/2015 3:09:15 PM

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I can't comment on "out of touch with reality," but as the article says, I too believe some automakers have "lost their way" (the quote from the article).

Acura used to be the one and only Asian luxury (or upscale?) automaker. Today, they're sort of in the same league as a nicely optioned Camry.

Infiniti has always had challenges in defining themselves. Quirky styling and always changing direction just helps to support the assertion that they're struggling to define who they are.

Cadillac was once a world leader in luxury cars, back in the time when people used to say "that's the Cadillac of Teletype machines!" Today, origami sheetmetal, impressive track numbers, and polarizing styling are their domain, but they're not viewed by many as being in the same league as the "real" luxury automakers (BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, and Audi).

Buick, once known as a "poor man's Cadillac" and an aspiration of maturing men, is now seen as "your dad's car." They're still struggling to shake the old man image, trying to redefine themselves to be appealing to a younger audience.

There's no shortage of sway, and searching, and struggle, and redefining going on.

Agent009 - 5/21/2015 3:41:21 PM

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There are a few that come to mind:

Scion, for being a brand marketed to a younger buyer but still missing the demographic. A very neglected brand IMHO.

Mitsubishi, don't know where the heck they are going

Honda, for loss of everything... quality, character, and individuality. Just one big generic mess.

MDarringer - 5/21/2015 7:37:50 PM

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#1 VW in the USA
#2 FCA
#3 GM

MrEE - 5/21/2015 8:01:06 PM

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Hard to make your case when sales are tops in there multiple segments, like Honda. VW and Lincoln don't seem to be keeping up as of late.

iamdabest1 - 5/21/2015 10:49:37 PM

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i think mitsubishi, and lincoln. lincoln at least is trying- mitsubishi might as well throw in the towel ......OR bring back a 3000GT, diamante and galant gtz.

carsnyc - 5/22/2015 12:33:44 PM

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Not much to add here because I think you guys nailed it: Scion, Cadillac, VW, Suzuki, Buick, Lincoln and Mitsubishi; and painfully to watch for me: Honda and Infiniti.

jackpuls - 5/22/2015 6:07:20 PM

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Lexus...

carloslassiter - 5/22/2015 7:55:45 PM

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Gotta be Lincoln. As proof I offer the ad they ran last year with Abraham Lincoln wandering through a wheat field. Not sure, but I do not think that is a good way to appeal to a new, younger audience.