[JBsZ06]

IN real life it's a pretty car. A little underpowered and a bit heavy but it is pretty and it's priced well.

Glad to hear of GM s success.

 

[pontiacgt02]

Who is this under powered for? Speed demons, come on people give it a break with the power. 90 percent of the cars on the road aren't anymore powerful or quicker than the Cascada. its a leisure convertible not a sports sedan or sports car.

The Encore is under powered also. Well we see people are still buying them. You make a good stylish car people will buy it.

 

[roy219]

The other issue in the thread regarding rentals and bad image for car brands, is that often rental companies buy the entry level version of a car (cloth seats, no USB, etc) if it's not in the premium/luxury range.

I don't know what the situation is in Australia, but in the U.S. rental car market, that's no longer the case. To improve profitability, OEMs have increasingly emphasized mid and highline trims of mass market cars such as Fusion/Mondeo in their sales contracts to rental firms. Ford in particular has been a leader in this area, and GM has followed Ford's approach in recent years.

U.S. market Buick Cascada actually exemplifies this. Fleet customers are only permitted to acquire the 'Premium (1SP)' version. GM offers an "entry level" Cascada 1SV that deletes features like park assist, forward collision alert, lane departure warning, rain sensing wipers, air deflector for front and rear seats, etc., but that Cascada version is available only to retail consumers in the USA.

 

[Evo69]

Got to admit, I was one of those who were pessimistic about this car. Good to see its getting attention in the marketplace.

 

[megeebee]

I have nothing against rental fleet sales, but we've been told GM is trying to trim those.

Why do people say fleet sales are bad in the first place?

It depends on the type of Fleet sale it is.

Government/Commercial Fleet sales are just fine. These are usually purpose built, smaller in total number, and are kept in service many years.

Rental fleet cars are retail-level product and are recycled quickly, ususally seeing service of no more than a year or a certain milege. This is what lowers the resale value of all models of a particular name plate.

 

[vanshmack]

Appearances are subjective.

I spent a bit of time at LAIAS going over a Cascada because I didn't know how I felt about it. After examining it up-close, I can say that I really don't like this car at all. The exterior styling is decidedly downmarket and not very Buickeque. The interior looks dated, starting with the cluster that looks like it was pulled straight from my 2009 Saturn VUE. The center stack on this just-launched car echoes those found in GM models that are or have been replaced. Oh, and having to stick a key into the ignition of a supposed "halo" car is so mid-00's.

That all said, I'm very happy for GM that the Cascada is selling in the numbers that it is. I guess it's a good thing that I'm not the typical GM buyer.

 

[Toto]

Opel seem to have a history of not carrying successful coupe/convertible versions of it's FWD hatchbacks forward to a next generation.

Although Opel/Vauxhall had a succession of coupes based on Ascona-B (Manta), Ascona-C (Vauxhall Cavalier convertible), Vectra-A (Calibra), Astra-G, Astra-H, Astra-J only the Ascona-C, Astra-G and Astra-J (Cascada) spawned convertible versions.

The Cascada is already effectively an old model since the Astra-K was launched for 2016 model year - whether there will be a replacement remains to be seen - a crystal ball is no good, this is GM!

Technically all Opel Astra's had a convertible version, except the current generation.

There were only two convertible versions of the Kadett available (C and E model). Opel changed the name for the F model to Astra and since then, Opel offered a convertible for all of them. Or short: Kadett/Astra C, E-J.

 

[ByTheLake]

I have nothing against rental fleet sales, but we've been told GM is trying to trim those.

Why do people say fleet sales are bad in the first place?

For clarity, GM's strategy is to reduce sales mainly to rental fleets. Those sales tend to be low margin (or no margin) and rental companies tend to request the lowest trim levels, which negatively impacts a vehicle's image.

Sales to corporate fleets remains a priority, which is why GM added the Isuzu medium duty truck and Nissan van, which provides additional models to corporate customers to prefer to lease all their corporate vehicles (pickups, medium duty, etc) from one supplier.

 

[kts350]

its not a bad car to drive or ride my only issue when I had one to review was the centre stack and instrument panel look out dated and the mylink system is not a touch a screen so its pain in the ass to use compared to mylink in every other Holden.

 

[SierraGS]

If the numbers work for less than 1,000 Cascadas per month (and apparently GM is surprised by the success, so the target had to be lower), I really want to believe that Buick could peddle 1000-1500 Verno (aka Astra) hatches or wagons per month...

Buick could sell 2,000 to 10,000 Verno (aka Astra) hatches or wagons per month depending upon how many variants were offered.

2,000 if it were just FWD Wagons, add 3,000 more if hatch is offered and 5,000 for Country Tour versions of Hatch and Wagon.

Think there is a real opportunity for Buick to add sales with a 5-Door Hatch Country Tour Astra/Verano and Wagon.

 

[SierraGS]

Who is this under powered for? Speed demons, come on people give it a break with the power. 90 percent of the cars on the road aren't anymore powerful or quicker than the Cascada. its a leisure convertible not a sports sedan or sports car.

The Encore is under powered also. Well we see people are still buying them. You make a good stylish car people will buy it.

Very true.

Buick can expand it's sales quite a bit if it were to go after "Stylish Car" buyers who are attracted to the styling but want the vehicle to provide things other than power or luxury.

There are many "Green Car" buyers who would love to buy a "Stylish Buick" that delivered the Green attributes they covet in a brand outside mainstream.

Many other "Young Entry Car" buyers who would rather buy a used car than an attractively priced "Stylish Buick" who will increase their incomes substantially and become premium luxury vehicle owners of a non GM brand within 10 years. These buyers do not want a Chevy either, nor a Ford or Toyota, they have goals to move up the corporate ladder, so "Volume Brands" are to be avoided at all cost.

GM is sitting on a gold mine with Buick but continues to cost itself tens of billions in sales revenue by trying to sell Chevrolets to people who will never buy one.

 

[roy219]

I spent a bit of time at LAIAS going over a Cascada because I didn't know how I felt about it. After examining it up-close, I can say that I really don't like this car at all. The exterior styling is decidedly downmarket and not very Buickeque. The interior looks dated, starting with the cluster that looks like it was pulled straight from my 2009 Saturn VUE. The center stack on this just-launched car echoes those found in GM models that are or have been replaced. Oh, and having to stick a key into the ignition of a supposed "halo" car is so mid-00's.

Thanks for your assessment, vanshmack. Your experience isn't at all surprising, as Buick Cascada is almost identical to the Opel version that was released three years prior.

 

[Goob]

I don't know what the situation is in Australia, but in the U.S. rental car market, that's no longer the case. To improve profitability, OEMs have increasingly emphasized mid and highline trims of mass market cars such as Fusion/Mondeo in their sales contracts to rental firms. Ford in particular has been a leader in this area, and GM has followed Ford's approach in recent years.

U.S. market Buick Cascada actually exemplifies this. Fleet customers are only permitted to acquire the 'Premium (1SP)' version. GM offers an "entry level" Cascada 1SV that deletes features like park assist, forward collision alert, lane departure warning, rain sensing wipers, air deflector for front and rear seats, etc., but that Cascada version is available only to retail consumers in the USA.

Thanks for clearing that up.

In AUS, yes if it's not a premium car they're not that well appointed trim levels (Economy to Full-Size). It's doing them brand damage here, especially for Nissan and Holden.

$395 for any color that's not white. ACLU should weigh in on this...
[snip]

Point One is uttely absurd. Stand in an intersection and ask 100 people at random if their car is FWD or RWD. Nobody knows and nobody cares.
Do they care Camaro vs. Mustang? Buick vs. Chevy vs. Ford? Probably a lot more. And looks. Looks sell. In cars, in relationships, in hiring, in so many ways. RWD? Not so much.

Point Two is perhaps even more absurd. Ask those same 100 people if they got the basic trim/model or the "fancy" or luxury trim/model, or the "medium" model, far more will know that than will know FWD vs. RWD.

EVERYONE knows cars come in various models, basic to fancy.

And the bottom line is the bottom line. Sales matter. :doh:

On point One, people do care. They're renting a premium convertible at a decent difference in price to regular cars, with the non-Euro element of the US topless rental market being sports for a few years now. It'll be interesting to see if the Cascada can make inroads. As Roy said above, the Rental Cascadas are going to be the high trim level ones, so that'll help for sure. I think you're giving the general public more credit than they're due on point two.

 

[Neanderthal]

Thanks for clearing that up.

In AUS, yes if it's not a premium car they're not that well appointed trim levels (Economy to Full-Size). It's doing them brand damage here, especially for Nissan and Holden.



On point One, people do care. They're renting a premium convertible at a decent difference in price to regular cars, with the non-Euro element of the US topless rental market being sports for a few years now. It'll be interesting to see if the Cascada can make inroads. As Roy said above, the Rental Cascadas are going to be the high trim level ones, so that'll help for sure. I think you're giving the general public more credit than they're due on point two.

I'd be interested to see hard data to support any of these speculations.

 

[Ed753]

I'm happy I was wrong about this car. Good for Buick.

My only concern is that they're pushing them to rental fleets.

And yet if it was a Ford or a Ford Mustang Convert - which is exactly what happens with that..... it's a win ? :think:onder:

I'm sure even you can understand and appreciate the difference between incremental sales feeding the rental lots vs. importing 1,500 Cascada's a month from Poland, just to sell them to Avis, Hertz, Enterprise & Co.


FWIW; last year 17.5% of Camaro's went to rental fleets vs. 14.3% for Mustang.

 

[GMOwner]

The Cascada is being made in Poland. I am assuming that maybe in order to get the factory to a specific utilization level, they needed to be able to sell across enough markets to hit their target. GM may be large enough of a company to enforce a certain level of marketing regardless of sales target for a particular model, so, if their US sales target was X and the minimum marketing investment is Y, then the Y investment was more than enough to create X sales.

At the same time, although it is easy to just slap a Buick label instead of Holden or Vauxhall or Opel, I do not know if the non-Buick brands are reaching their targets as well. Furthermore, has the plant in Poland reached its design capacity for this model? Is GM willing to make more to appease US (or anywhere else) demand? If this is the case, my guess would be no because they may have plans for this factory for other things.

 

[Ruperts Trooper]

The Cascada is being made in Poland. I am assuming that maybe in order to get the factory to a specific utilization level, they needed to be able to sell across enough markets to hit their target. GM may be large enough of a company to enforce a certain level of marketing regardless of sales target for a particular model, so, if their US sales target was X and the minimum marketing investment is Y, then the Y investment was more than enough to create X sales.

At the same time, although it is easy to just slap a Buick label instead of Holden or Vauxhall or Opel, I do not know if the non-Buick brands are reaching their targets as well. Furthermore, has the plant in Poland reached its design capacity for this model? Is GM willing to make more to appease US (or anywhere else) demand? If this is the case, my guess would be no because they may have plans for this factory for other things.

Opel/Vauxhall made the Cascada available to Buick to fill a business opportunity in the USA, not to keep production levels at GM Gliwice up. A certain amount of additional engineering was needed to meet US regulations which are different to EU and RoW.

GM doesn't routinely engineer cars to meet both US and EU regulations, unlike all other global manufacturers, so Opel/Vauxhall don't spend development costs on engineering for the US as their cars aren't normally sold there.

GM should have got it's act together a while back and consolidated Buick, Holden and Opel/Vauxhall into a global division with an engineering requirement that all new models meets global standards - but this is GM!

 

[SierraGS]

Opel/Vauxhall made the Cascada available to Buick to fill a business opportunity in the USA, not to keep production levels at GM Gliwice up. A certain amount of additional engineering was needed to meet US regulations which are different to EU and RoW.

GM doesn't routinely engineer cars to meet both US and EU regulations, unlike all other global manufacturers, so Opel/Vauxhall don't spend development costs on engineering for the US as their cars aren't normally sold there.

GM should have got it's act together a while back and consolidated Buick, Holden and Opel/Vauxhall into a global division with an engineering requirement that all new models meets global standards - but this is GM!

The key to GM's future lies with them consolidating Buick/GMC, Holden and Opel/Vauxhall into a single global "Brand" who share products based on their local markets with GMC adding SUV, Truck and Van vehicles as required.

Buick should be offering the Astra and Insignia Country Tour variants in the U.S. using the Cascada "model".

 

[Ruperts Trooper]

The key to GM's future lies with them consolidating Buick/GMC, Holden and Opel/Vauxhall into a single global "Brand" who share products based on their local markets with GMC adding SUV, Truck and Van vehicles as required.

Buick should be offering the Astra and Insignia Country Tour variants in the U.S. using the Cascada "model".

The key to that should be a senior GM management decision to develop all models in that grouping to meet global standards together with the increased development funding to do so. Re-engineering models is too costly and too time consuming. This would also need to include automatic development of LHD/RHD as well as different powertrains to suit different markets, petrol/diesel/hybrid.

But then Chevrolet and Cadillac would want to join in !!!

 

[1958carnut]

Ruperts Trooper all of this is much to logical for a monolith like GM.