GMI's Revitalization in Action | The Dream Buick Lineup

[ChevroletRevived]

That's true. Showing a car ahead of time gives the competition time to change and adapt to the new product. That's something the foreign automakers don't do. Maybe GM should do the same?

[mikmak]

Originally Posted by ChevroletRevived

Thank you everyone for your comments. The wagon photo now should be fixed.

Thats is inspired. Great attention grabbing details and generally appealing proportions. Makes the 300C touring look......*yawn*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[ChevroletRevived]

Thank you! Sit tight everyone, the Pontiac lineup is coming within the next 3-5 days.

[Firebird00]

These Buick concepts are awesome. I can hear Lexus collectively peeing itself now.

[CeeKay]

WHY are we not calling the "WildCat" the Riviera? or maybe even the Roadmaster Coupe. Riviera was Buick's Flagship model. Why would would you leave this out? Roadmaster is an older nameplate then Riviera. At least Riviera went till' 1999.

[Strapping.Young.Lad]

This was from last year. Do not revive old threads

[LucheySchoe]

Beautiful cars. I wish you guys were at the Buick design studios to help them with the product line.

Great Job! Oh! And Id buy any one of them!

[Commodore]

Decent job, I think the Saab Revitalization was better.

Again, you got everything right when it comes to what Buick should be. Buick needs Youthfulness, it needs to change its image and become a Stylish and Tech Advanced competitor to Acura and with a little sportiness (like Super models, if done right) a competitor to Infinity and BMW. Its designs need to be timeless, but they need to be more daring compared to the blandness of Lexus.

Buick china has a good thing going right now. The Riviera concept that recently debuted is a great sign of things to come are anything like that concept. In my opinion, the concept's design language is better than the one displayed here. While Buick is being integraded into the Pontiac - Buick - GMC system, it doesn't need many model. All I feel it needs is the following:

Lacrosse/Lucerne (kill one of them)
Chinese Park Avenue
Enclave Crossover
Velite large coupe/conv. OR Reviera

The last of the 4 is very flexible. Could be anything as long as its Stylish and Tech Savvy but most importantly it has to be cool. It has to make young people aspire to own it later in their lives. It has to get them to get their parents and themselves in the showroom.

Lastly, a Buick wagon is a bad idea. I can see Saab and Caddy pull of a sportwagen or something but 'wagon' (and of course 'minivan') need to be tabooed from the Buick lineup.

Now that the Reviera concept it out, why don't you guys use all those pictures to illustrate what a NG Reviera-inspired LaX/Lucerne would look like.

[BigBlockBuick]

Originally Posted by 2648562

They're all nice and each have the potential to attract new buyers to Buick. But guess what? None of those cars are going to appeal to today's Buick buyer. NONE.

Before you design any more Buicks that will never see the light of day (like the Velite) you need to think a little bit about your typical Buick buyer (and I mean beyond age). Your typical Buick buyer is above all else value conscious! They're affluent, but they're not the type that's going to spend four bucks on a cup of coffee or $500 on a new purse (your Buick buyer isn't some loud mouth Mark Cuban type... he's your Sam Walton, work his butt off most of his life/neighbors didn't know he had money and he would rather they think he didn't kind of guy) . That's not to say Buick buyers don't want quality (this they appreciate as well), they just don't need to announce their success or arrival the way a Cadillac or BMW owner does. Are they into flash (bling on a small scale)? Well, yes they appreciate design. But they're not buying Buicks to be seen (they want comfort and practicality more so). And they're certainly not into blue tooth or complicated and unnecessary gizmos (less is more is kind of true, but only up to a point). Practicality is king. No two seat Buick is going to sell worth a darn (I don't care how fast or powerful it is). No convertible is going to sell worth a darn. You might find a salesmen who could sell a buyer a 32 valve V8 powered Lucerne, but put that engine in a Charger-like RWD performance sedan and it ain't gonna happen! Buick buyers want safety and security--if you can't do AWD just stick to FWD. There. I'm tired now. But I'll say it all again (or try and say it a little clearer): 1. Value (where have we heard that one before) 2. Safety and security 3. Style minus bling, but more importantly comfort 4. And finally dependability--no unproven or unnecessary anything. There are other factors, but I honestly feel those matter most.

There are exceptions to every rule. And there is a need to attract newer/younger buyers to Buick. But the products have to make perfect sense like the Enclave or Buick will do an Oldsmobile and vanish.

This is exactly the kind of thinking that has made Buick slowly creep into the slump it is in right now. The problem is that mngmnt forgot about Buicks glory days and what made it what it was. They forgot about the powerful luxury coupe the Riviera used to be with its big block 425 nailhead engine or the GSX with its beefy 455 7.5 v8 with 415hp and over 500 ftlbs of torque and the Wildcat with its sporty profile with the BALLS to match. People dont want powerful v8 RWD vehicles? I dont care what your age is even if you are not the type of person that is always pushing the throttle it always feels good to know that you can. Back in the glory days Buick wasa force in the automotive industry and it was vehicles like these that made it that way. I love Buicks but i perfer any 60s era car over anything from the 80s and up with the exception of the Grand National and the Regal these two cars were a glimpse of what Buick was capable of producing so why not live up to the level of performance and style these cars once had ?! Why not make a V8 Wildcat or a supercharged(twin turbo maybe ) v8 Gran Sport? This would ultimately attract younger buyers and broaden the consumer base for Buick overall.
From what I gather it seems to me that you are happy with the mediocre job the buick mngmnt has been doing for the past 20 years and if your mentality is if it aint broke dont fix it then you have to see that it is broke and with that thinking they will never fix it joining Oldsmobile in the graveyard. One of the only things that I really agree on is the AWD situation; the technology is available USE IT.

With that being said I like the new line designs but the boat tail on the Wildcat Gran Sport needs to go or at least make it a little less pointy ( I do realize that it would completely change the overall profile of the car to completely redo the tail end ) other than that I like what I see especially the targa tops better than a convertible unless it was a hardtop convertible then it would be a coin flip. Hopefully it has the balls to match its looks.

[philr]

Hi BigBolckBuick!

I completely agree with you!

Nice to see another Buick fan on this board!

[Caprice_96_5.7]

the problem GM is have ing right now is that THEY dont let ppl drive what they want THEY ARE TELLING THEM WHAT TO DRIVE !! . AND ABOUT THE ROADMASTER I HOPE IT IS REAL COUSE IF IT WAS IT WOULD BE MY DREAM CAR !!! and honstly .. the last good cars in GM were : chev caprice 96 impala ss 96 buick roadmaster 96 and cadillac fleetwood 96 ... GMC IS STILL RUNING !! ( Thank god for that !!!! ) and pontiac ... ummm .... the last good car in pontiac is the RWD bonivelle ( i think the name of the car is wrong ) but from what i see th car will save pontiac is the new G8 ! ..... hope the do a remake of the b-body and a CADDY D-BODY RWD V8's !!

[GPGuy]

Originally Posted by Caprice_96_5.7

the problem GM is have ing right now is that THEY dont let ppl drive what they want THEY ARE TELLING THEM WHAT TO DRIVE !! . AND ABOUT THE ROADMASTER I HOPE IT IS REAL COUSE IF IT WAS IT WOULD BE MY DREAM CAR !!! and honstly .. the last good cars in GM were : chev caprice 96 impala ss 96 buick roadmaster 96 and cadillac fleetwood 96 ... GMC IS STILL RUNING !! ( Thank god for that !!!! ) and pontiac ... ummm .... the last good car in pontiac is the RWD bonivelle ( i think the name of the car is wrong ) but from what i see th car will save pontiac is the new G8 ! ..... hope the do a remake of the b-body and a CADDY D-BODY RWD V8's !!

Although I agree that some of those cars you listed were good cars I really don't think they're what people are looking to drive anymore. I think most of the interest in those died out in the early 90s.

[philr]

Originally Posted by GPGuy

Although I agree that some of those cars you listed were good cars I really don't think they're what people are looking to drive anymore. I think most of the interest in those died out in the early 90s.

Actually, the interest for these cars died out because they were not really updated since the downsizing of 1977 and the 1991-96 models had controversial styling. However, their architecture is still praised by a good number of people. I'm among them. I just don't like the styling of the post-1979 B bodies (and I prefer those built before 1977).
I still like the looks of my 1991 Park Avenue Ultra but I hate it's FWD configuration. I'd rather have a 1992 Roadmaster for it's better architecture (RWD, body on frame, no MacPherson struts, recirculating ball steering, solid axle...) even if I don't like how it looks (except the wagon which I like a bit better).

I also like hardtop sedans like many of the pre-1977 fullsize GM models more than the pillared sedans.

[FBODYRULES]

Originally Posted by LucheySchoe

Beautiful cars. I wish you guys were at the Buick design studios to help them with the product line.

Great Job! Oh! And Id buy any one of them!

thanks! thats what we like to hear

[zabraden]

I know, I'm late to the RIA party, but while I love almost everything about this lineup, I just have 3 little nitpicks about it.

1. I think there's no doubt at this point that Buick is planning to add a compact, possibly Skylark, hopefully RWD to set it apart from the Cobalt and Astra. I do think that's missing from your lineup, and from PBG dealers in general, as you killed off the G5 too (good move). PBG dealers want a compact, and the only real reason for that is that people that go the PBG dealers want a compact. Why not give them what they want?

2. I think you should call the Roadmaster Coupe something different, possibly Riviera. The coupe really looks nothing like the sedan. They are both beautiful vehicles, but I think the coupe should have a different name as they aren't similar enough to be considered different body styles of the same vehicle.

3. You guys are keeping the Enclave, right? If so, disregard this nitpick.

The only other suggestion I might have is adding an E-Flex sedan to slot above the Volt. Maybe call it, I don't know, Electra?