Buick Branding To Disappear On All Models Starting Next Year

You know your brand is valuable when you are too embarrassed to write it on the cars.

Well, different people from all walks of life have their own perception of Buick. Some people can not see the brand as upscale. Some people see the brand as one for older drivers. Some people just see Buick as an alternative to other upscale vehicles. Not a big deal.

GM is trying to provide Buicks in such a way that consumers "see the product 1st" - even before they realize it's actually a Buick. Hence their recent commercial ads. "Is that a Buick?!"

But in reality, it's a really crappy position to be in. You have good products, but becuase people cant forget old cars from 15-20-25 years ago, they assume Buick is still building the same type of cars. They're not. In China, Buick is luxury.

Nobody assumes the Camry/Accord are still basic family cars anymore.

This is a STUPID idea -

It might be different if it was OBVIOUS to almost everyone what brand of car it is - maybe like a Rolls Royce or Mercedes - but the fact is - for most people today - they do not know what a Buick looks like. Way Back - Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell used specific styling themes to differentiate the different GM brands - to the point that you could almost always tell what brand it was from looking at it - even without any tags.

Today - with most people not really into Buick or GM (There was also a time when HALF of the cars in this country were made by GM) - YOU really really need the ADVERTISEMENT - and giving up that is a Multi Million Dollar Mistake - the first really BIG one Mary Barra has managed.

Good idea for Buick to move forward and create new visions for the company. Nothing wrong with that. It is just one indication of the brand's forward-thinking. At one time, every Mercedes sedan was adorned with the formal 4-5 row grille with the Mercedes hood ornament standing 3 inches in salute. Nowadays, if it's not an S-Class or Maybach, you won't see that grille/ornament combo on any C- or E-sedan (not sure if it's even an option in a Luxury trim like it once was). For Buick, it's not a big deal. There are probably not many people who pay attention to it anyway and it'll save the company a few bucks on each model, which adds up by year's end.

I do think, however, that this is in Buick's larger plan to eliminate the Buick name altogether and replace it with Avenir.

It's the same crappy idea GM had with Oldsmobile before it croaked - they removed the brand name from the Aurora.

Either your brand means something positive to consumers or it doesn't, and clearly GM thinks it's the latter.

I think Buick is headed for the graveyard in the USA. Its crossovers could just as easily be covered by Chevy and Cadillac. Its sedans are dead as dead can be.

Sorry MD but I see more Buicks than Cadillacs so I don't think so.

That may be true BUT, the Buicks are not selling anywhere near list so the profit just isn't there. As a % of discount, Chevy and Cadillac have lower discounts than Buick where the % is staggering. It's rather easy to get a Lacrosse down to Malibu money. The crossovers can easily be split between Chevy and Cadillac that return better profits per car.

So what - most automakers do not write out their names on their cars anymore.