Where Do YOU Rank Buick In The Luxury Car Segment?

Right below Acura and Volvo

Buick is a luxury car?

Luxury car? Yes. Premium? Nope. It's the same level as Genesis, Infiniti, Acura and Lincoln i.e. one notch below real premium cars. Volvo is also at the same level but apparently is finding idiots to pay Mercedes prices for rebodied Geelys.

Buick is still around? Haven't seen one in ages.

The buick will do well against Acura, Lincoln and Genesis.

To me Buick as a brand name has negative equity - just like Oldsmobile in its dying days when they didn't even write the co. name on the Aurora.

Start over and give it a new name or just call them Opel.

carloslassiter, perhaps you have not paid attention to the news, Opel was sold to French PAS (Peugeot, Citroen) in March. They are still building the Regal as this was in the pipeline. The next generation Regal will likely be built in China where Buick is extremely popular.

Buick is very popular in China and may be considered a luxury brand there but I doubt anyone in America would consider it as such. That GM pricing the GS at $26K confirms its standing. However at this price, the GS is a good choice among other mid-size sedans.

Thanks Truthy - I had not heard that Opel was sold.

carloslasitter, yes, it was a bit of a surprise. GM has been losing money in Europe for nearly 2 decades, but Opel makes the best Buicks in decades.

HenryN, it is hard to argue that the Regal is a luxury vehicle. The $25,000 price span is a difficult thing to pull off. They are a cut above Chevy, Ford and other mainstream cars. Still, good for them if they can pull it off and as long as the cars are good. The trend is good.

I just got back from Shanghai & Ningbo and they are EVERYWHERE parked beside the Mercs. Audi and Bimmers. Too funny.

I would put Buick in the premium segment (not luxury) just above Genesis and Lincoln, and I think Kia is even starting to build some premium cars.

@carsnyc It actually is evidence of dementia.

Buick has - for decades - been GM's second tier Luxury car - better known as the "Doctor's car" and openly advertised as such at least through the 1980's. That places it along with Audi, Volvo, Infiniti, Lexus, Genesis, current Lincoln, PSA DS, and what was once Chrysler (Plymouth and Dodge were entry level). Oldsmobile also competed with Buick for the second tier Luxury Sales -although they had a few more performance vehilces -but it was Pontiac that was supposed to be the "performance car" division of GM. THe problem is that while all the divisions had cars designed for their intended positions - their portfolios often included lots of other vehicles that simply did not fit into the purpose - but were often far too derivative to even seem to be different from the other divisions. ANd - at the high end sedan level - the Oldsmobile 98 and the Buick Electra/Park avenue/Roadmaster were built on the Cadillac sedan frame - while the Olds 88/Buick LeSabre were on - the Chevrolet Impala rear wheel drive - until they went FWD - when Chevrolet not follow. In fact - in the otherwise terrible Downsizing of the late 70's early 80s - the Buick Park Avenue actually sold fairly well compared to the rest of the designs - which were the beginning of the end for GM

WHat has allowed Buick to survive is not - however - the US market - it is the CHINESE market - where BUICK was the preferred car of Chairman Mao - and Buick maintains its level as a status symbol - to the point that they can still sell the Old Platform Buick Mini-van - appropriately equipped - as a LUXURY business vehicle - where it sells very well and at eye-popping prices. Buick easily outsells Cadillac in that market - and they still offer several other cars that are no longer offered in the USA.

The Top end Buick Sedan of today - the LaCrosse- is actually not a bad car - the problem is that it is built on the same platform as the Chevrolet Impala which is really hard to beat in the full size car level. I would expect the LaCrosse - if marketed properly - to be good competition for the Avalon/Es350.

Tom, you did a good job going down memory lane but placing Audi and Lexus at the same level of Buick in an otherwise solid response tells us about your biases.