No, I don't disagree, at least to an extent. The 80's and early 90's vintage Buicks WERE junk. Interiors were flimsy and poorly-finished, parts would loosen and fall off after a couple of years, engines and transmisions were unreliable, and the paint jobs were not impressive either. In the late 90's, however, that slowly began to change, and general reliability began to improve, though some of the interiors remained poorly-finished. The current Lucerne, Enclave, and LaCrosse are vast improvements over their predecessors....though much of the Enclave's interior plushness is just plastic with a lot of fake wood and chrome on top of it, except for the wood steering wheel, which is real wood. The quality of the new LaCrosse (the thread topic here) remains to be seen.

 

Anyone heard of sales goals so far? The Current one sells around 1500-2000 units a month, not bad for an older vehicle. So this is an entry level luxury vehicle?

 

I haven't heard. You'd think they'd want to increase sales vs. the current level. Since the current sales level has been established during this recession I would think they should go up at a good rate with the new model, and things improving a bit lately.

If the LaCrosse is an entry level luxxury car, where does that leave the Lucerne?

 

whoa, I din't realize Buick only has THREE cars in its entire line-up:
http://www.buick.com/pages/mds/vehicles/allVehicles.do

It's stuff like the 09 LaCrosse & Lucerne (redundant & ugly) that got GM where it is.

The '10 LaCrosse looks like a huge and essential improvement. Still, how is there really a need for Buick in the US? They could just transfer the new LaCrosse and the Enclave into Caddy or even Chevy.

 

Yes, his disinterest was so obvious.

 

Whenever I'd see a Tiger/Buick ad he'd look like "what was I thinking when I signed this contract".

 

Yep, these were his least favorite cars by miles, he wasn't a good enough actor to disguise his feelings (he's a great golfer).

 

I'm not so sure his disinterest was that obvious. First, he didn't really need the money (he was already making it, big-time, as a pro golfer), so we know we wasn't peddling Buicks just for cash. Second, he probably had offers from other companes....yet stuck with Buick. Third, Buicks, in general, fit the nature of a pro golfer......calm, cool, and refined.

 

lol, Tiger is fit, lean, smart, refined, cool, which is the opposite of many golfers both pro and especially duffers. Tiger has set the standard for golfers as athletes.

Let's be realistic, in his fleet of fine cars a Buick would be his last choice. btw, the only reason he peddled Buicks was for the cash, certainly not because he liked the cars at that time, business is business. All his endorsement deals are about doing it for the cash. His charity efforts are another story and he has done work in that area too.

 

OK, fine......you see it one way, I do another. We'll have to leave it at that, because there's no way either of us can actually read his mind. And you're right that he did own and drive some other cars as well; one of them, I believe, a Porsche.

What is also interesting is that Bob Lutz, a dedicated car guy (not just a buisnessman like some other managers at GM), got rid of his chauffer-driven Cadillac and made a Buick Lucerne his personal car....he liked it that much. Lutz, of course, could drive (or have chauffer-driven) almost anything he wants, yet chose a Lucerne.

 

Ok, fine........, cool. It's probably too OT to matter anyway, I certainly respect that people have differences in opinion. I agree we can't read his mind.

I am a USTA tennis player (for fun) and I attend many professional matches as a spectator. So I find it to be interesting how car makers handle their endorsements at these upscale events. Hyundai is making a splash, not just the usual suspects like MB, BMW, Porsche, Lexus.

 

You'll find a number of different automakers sponsoring tennis and golf events. Mazda, for example, sponsors PGA and LPGA events at the local Congressional Country Club here in suburban MD. Most automakers, however, prefer to help sponsor auto racing events. Not only is there far more potential money in auto racing, but it can, indirectly, tie in with their buisness as well.....the old 'Win on Sunday, sell on Monday" adage.

 

I agree, that's interesting but IMO (and in the opinion of othes too) he's over the hill in the auto bus now. It's time for a well-deserved retirement, after his great contributions of the past.

Another interesting note was when the top execs looked into the corporate garage at Ford headquarters a couple of years ago they were surprised by the lack of Lincoln/Mercury products parked in there by the execs. They saw mostly Jag/RRover/LRovers as the preferred company cars sitting in there (yes of course this is when Ford still owned Jag and Range Rover, but we are talkng about company cars). Wake-up call for sure. Whatever it takes for them to get real.

 

I think the Lacrosse will be a hit for Buick as well, but just like with Cadillac it'll take a few different models and many years before you get the younger crowd to get into one.

The only reason why GM saved Buick and didn't kill it off like Saturn, Hummer, Pontiac, etc, is because it's a cash cow in China, one of the world's quickest growing car markets today, because you can't tell me that Buick was doing that much better than those brands here in the US that it was able to survive.

 

We cannot really say that nobody will buy the Lacrosse. There is a buyer for everything, regardless what we think of it. It all depends on personal preference.
I personally hate the Chevy HHR, Chevy SSR, the Pontiac Aztec, Chrysler PT cruiser etc. but these cars are very popular in Los Angeles. You see them virtually everywhere. If you travel the 605 freeway, the 405 and anywhere in between, you are bound to run into one of these.
I think GM is finally turning in the right direction with this car. It certainly looks better than anything else they offer, especially better than the Cadillac CTS. Would I personally consider one? Never.
But I'm sure there are lots of people who will. Congrats to GM.