2008 Buick Enclave SUV at Detroit Auto Show

[kaisen]

"Enclave rides on a 119-inch wheelbase and is powered by a 3.6L DOHC V6 with variable valve timing (same as Cadillac CTS, Buick Lacrosse CXS, upcoming Saturn Aura, etc - E). Enclave’s powerful V-6 offers one of the category’s most fuel-efficient options. The engine is rated at 270 horsepower and is backed by a six-speed automatic transmission. This luxury SUV also has all-wheel drive and four-wheel independent suspension."

GMC and Saturn will also have variants of this vehicle.

















What do you think?

E

[yellowline]

Desperately needs a better name. Ford saturated the market with "E" SUVs. The interior looks good, the exterior looks inoffensive.

[Oh Haha]

[oldE]

Please lobby your congressman to put in place the following laws, which will apply to the automotive industry:
1/ The Ugly Vehicle Law. Each vehicle proposed for production, which will of course reflect upon the good/or bad taste of the citizens of the country, will be viewed by an independent panel of automotive enthusiasts who will advise the manufacturer of their collective approval or disapproval. This will also be known as the Aztek law.
2/ The Too Many Cliches Law. The Independent Panel, as noted in the above paragraph, will note the number of styling cliches dragged out by the manufacturer in order to 'brand' the vehicle. (Example, scoops which direct no air to any part of the vehicle, Portholes which are also non-functional, Clearance humps in fenders which are not really needed to provide clearance for wheels, Roof racks which no one will use to attach anything to the vehicle (Also punishable as a criminal offence if attaching anything heavier than a balloon causes the vehicle to suffer a roll-over) and acres of fake wood, which as we know, causes the destruction of acres of plastic forests each year.

As a side note, its nice to see the guy who designed the rear hatch of the Mazda 3 has a new job.
Les

[Porsche-O-Phile]

More g-damned SUVs. Wonderful. Just what the world needs.

It'll blend in transparently to the sea of all the other overpriced rolling road hazards out there. . .

[nostatic]

garbage. next?

[techweenie]

Nice amalgamation of Toureg, Mazda, Mitsubishi and Buick "styling cues."

Looks kinda toy-like which seems to be the ideal for most "crossover vehicles."

Buick had the second biggest sales drop (after Pontiac) of all GM divisions last year. Model proliferation is probably not the best solution. but GM can't seem to leave a platform exclusive to one division.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Not bad for an SUV, which I despise, but the brand image will ensure it's failure. Buick will have to go a lot further than Tiger Woods to attract younger buyers, and their older customers in general aren't looking for a luxury SUV such as this. Give them 10 years, when all their buyers are dead, and they'll go the way of Oldsmobile and Plymouth. Really, what purpose do they serve in the GM structure? They go luxury or sporty, they intrude on Cadillac. Cheaper, they step on Chevy and Pontiac's toes. Pull the plug! It's for the best anyway, having four versions of the same GM product is dumber than hell, and serves only to dillute their products.

[techweenie]

Originally posted by SoCal911SC
buick has big sales drops, and will continue to, because their customers are dying off and there is no way to replenish them. unless GM can figure out how to bring people back from the dead. and convince zombies/the undead to buy buicks.

the average age of a buick buyer has got to be approaching 70 these days (that may be a bit of an exag., but not much).

no young person wants anything called a Buick, and never will.

That nameplate is a dead man walking, just like oldsmobile was a few years ago.

Brands can be turned around.

Get into your time machine, dial -10 years and you could substitute "Cadillac" for all of the above.

[}{arlequin]

now i'm gonna have to upgrade from my escalade. that looks dope, yo.

[techweenie]

Originally posted by SoCal911SC
Not really a good analogy. A better one would be to substitute "oldsmobile."

Cadillac is a different brand and positioned very differently. It is the top line luxury for GM.

Buick is much more like Olds was. In the middle, unnecessary.

"Could" be turned around/saved, possibly, anything could happen. "Likely" to be turned around/saved? I doubt it.

Well, we disagree (surprise) Cadillac is mid-luxury at best in the car world. Consumers don't hold their focus to a single corporate entity.

I've helped build a couple of the top 10 brands in the world. I'd love to have the challenge of turning Buick around. But I really don't want to move to Detroit.

[MichiganMat]

I like it.

If the ol' coots upstairs don't castrate their designers it could turn out to be a hit. Otherwise we could have another crap-ass Rendezvous on our hands, what a drag that would be.

[yellowline]

Originally posted by techweenie

I've helped build a couple of the top 10 brands in the world. I'd love to have the challenge of turning Buick around. But I really don't want to move to Detroit.

GM marketing frankly sucks nowadays. I bet good marketing could really help them. They don't emphasize their strong points at all. Do you hear much about how they have the top two assembly plants in NA for quality?

Or an explanation on how the pushrod V6s make more torque than OHC 6s at low RPM?

Why am I not seeing GTO ads everywhere? If I could actually see the car in the media, maybe I'd know it exists and take a look at it. Same with the Solstice.

Or that this "Toyota provides American jobs" is nonsense, seeing as how GM employs about four times the American workers that Toyota does?

GM frankly isn't in destroy mode, in terms of marketing. They're retreating, which isn't necessary. Toyota has an amazing PR machine selling rather mediocre products, and it's why they're doing well. When was the last time you saw a Toyota that could objectively destroy all competition in terms of anything?

Cadillac had something, the "American Revolution" was decent, and Zeppelin is always awesome, but it's time for them to move on in their campaigns.

[dd74]

Originally posted by techweenie
Well, we disagree (surprise) Cadillac is mid-luxury at best in the car world...

I don't think so. Cadillac has, since inception, been regarded as the top luxury line built in the US. Incidentally, have you been in a Cadillac STS. Luxury-wise, Mercedes, BMW et al have nothing over this car.

[Mr Beau]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Hyundai styling cues yet, but I digress...

There's a good analysis of the GM bankruptcy situation here. It basically states that at the current sink-shipping rate the General has about 1000 days of cash on hand. Billions of dollars doesn't last that long when you're losing 24 million a day.

It seems that Cadillac has been positioned as a brand directed a bit more to the enthusiast end of the spectrum as opposed to the previous geriatric soft-as-marshmellows suspension generation. So where can Buick be positioned? They definitely need to attract younger buyers (I believe theirs are the oldest in the industry) but without encroaching on Cadillac. Not an easy situation.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally posted by yellowline
GM marketing frankly sucks nowadays. I bet good marketing could really help them. They don't emphasize their strong points at all. Do you hear much about how they have the top two assembly plants in NA for quality?

Or an explanation on how the pushrod V6s make more torque than OHC 6s at low RPM?

Why am I not seeing GTO ads everywhere? If I could actually see the car in the media, maybe I'd know it exists and take a look at it. Same with the Solstice.

Or that this "Toyota provides American jobs" is nonsense, seeing as how GM employs about four times the American workers that Toyota does?

GM frankly isn't in destroy mode, in terms of marketing. They're retreating, which isn't necessary. Toyota has an amazing PR machine selling rather mediocre products, and it's why they're doing well. When was the last time you saw a Toyota that could objectively destroy all competition in terms of anything?

Cadillac had something, the "American Revolution" was decent, and Zeppelin is always awesome, but it's time for them to move on in their campaigns.

Some of these points are hard to make positive. Several ads do state that they have the top whatever plants in quality, then I wonder, why are the cars put together with Elmers glue and baling wire?

They'd probably rather not have anybody notice that they still use pushrod engines, because the rest of the world quit on them 20 years ago.

The GTO had an ad blitz when first introduced, it didn't seem to help.

Last time I saw the numbers, the Camry was the most American car as far as American content and assembly. My wife's old Monte Carlo was built in Canada, horray American pride!

If you really believe that Toyota is all marketing, you aren't paying much attention to their products, or are just in denial. Most aren't exciting, but Toyota is a leader in reliability, quality, and resale value. Pretty much every statistic in the auto industry supports this, as does their ever increasing sales and market share.

The Caddy Zep ads were ok, but the American Revolution was crap. Where was the revolution? You use strong adjectives, you better back it up. Hire VW's agency, they always have amusing ads. And can the "Like a Rock" truck ads, those were tired a decade ago.

[Mr Beau]

The V6 Mustang has less North American content that many 'Japanese' cars. My memory is a bit foggy but the engine is from Germany (Cologne) and I can't remember the transmission supplier off-hand. It appiles to either the manual or automatic version.

Damn, not quite enough specifics to make a compelling point but you'll just have to take my word for it. :-)

[onewhippedpuppy]

My parents had a Dodge and Chrysler, both made in Mexico. I had an F150, made in Canada. Everybody is global, there's no such thing as a 100% American made product anymore. It's just funny that some Japanese cars are more American than American cars.

[ChrisBennet]

Originally posted by yellowline
Or that this "Toyota provides American jobs" is nonsense, seeing as how GM employs about four times the American workers that Toyota does?

Where are Toyota pickups made?
Where are GM pickups made?

I'm not an SUV fan but I think this Buick SUV looks nice.
-Chris

[Mr Beau]

Oh, and another example. The new Saturn SUV is a Daewoo design that will be built in Mexico. Is it an American car?