Toys4RJill

Was perusing the Buick site today. Check out the target market for some of their products.

mmarshall

The target market is anyone who will get out their checkbook.

Buick (inaccurately), for years, was considered a Grandpa/Grandma vehicle, but the fact is that persons of all ages drive them. In fact, older Centurys have been popular with college students because they are cheap and (by American-designed vehicle standards) reliable, particularly with the N/A 3.8L V6.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

fair enough, bottom line, you don't want a product made in china. like your iphone, or your mac probably were.

the oldest boomers are about 75, so that wealth is and will be inherited by younger generations.

haha, great recap... shows i love cars!

if a company has a target market of 'anyone' they will lose. no product is ideal for 'anyone' and marketing must be targeted, even if it's multiple large targets.

LexBob2

In addition to being cheap, a lot of cars like old Century's etc. were passed down to kids as they headed off to college from you guessed it, grandma and grandpa. What we're talking about here are new cars and it's no secret that Buick has appealed to and purchased by older drivers. Demographic information bears this out. A lot of brands in this situation try to lower the average age of buyers. It happens all the time. It's a delicate balance - Keep the older buyer and appeal to younger buyers. Sometimes it works and sometimes not but the brands in this situation gotta try.

SW17LS

We'll have to agree to disagree there. You spent a lot of time railing against crossovers and the demise of sedans and suggested that people who leave sedans and buy crossovers were doing nothing but what "auto marketers" told them to do...and then you went and did the same thing you chastised others for doing and traded your sedan on a crossover...and now go on about how its the best vehicle in the world for you. Worst part is...you have no sense of humor about it. At least laugh at yourself...

The issue is not with trying different types of vehicles, its about saying how people shouldn't do something...and then doing that yourself...without recognizing that has happened. I don't tell people to buy American, because I don't expend any energy trying to do that myself. The reason people give you a hard time about this is you're so adamant that you didn't betray your principles when you have done so all over the place with your buying behavior. Just don't be adamant about it anymore and people will leave you alone about it. You buy stuff built all over the place, including China. Having talked with you on the subject, I would say in reality you own very little that was made in the US. Own that, be real.

Yup, how about that? Millennials are the future, and companies have to focus on appealing to the consumers who are going to keep them alive and relevant going forward.

mmarshall

Nope.....wrong again. (Strike One) I did, in fact, complain that removing sedans from the market was unfair to customers and deprived them of choice (GM and Ford, in fact, are two of the worshippers offenders here)...and I'll repeat that, and stick by every word of it. And, with the announcement of multiple plant-closures, it brought the worst UAW strike in 50 years, and cost GM billions. Marry Barra is going to have that on her record for the rest of her professional career.

Again, wrong. (Strike Two). I never told anyone else they couldn't do something. Personally, I would not spend the kind of money an S-Class costs, but I figure you work for your income, and have a right to spend it as you see fit.


Strike Two and a Half....I changed my buying patterns from a change in driving needs. That's not a case of being "adamant" but simply admitting that my own needs changed. And, yes, I would have preferred a UAW-built GX, but I didn't make the decision as to where they would be built. The reason you don't get Strike Three is that it is true that we all buy a lot of stuff from China at places like Wal-Mart and Target...but, unfortunately, we again don't have much choice, since American companies choose to produce and import so much daily merchandise from there. It's a real shame, but something we have to live with.

So.....not trying to be rude, but I do in fact deal with reality, every day. And, if people want to give me a hard time for it, that's fine.....I'm used to it.

UDel

Mmarshall was mainly complaining about companies dropping sedans, not people buying CUV's. I don't recall marshall attacking anyone personally for buying a CUV. He might have bought another sedan if there was a better choice of sedans.

It is almost impossible not to buy Chinese products, I try/have tried, go to Walmart, Lowes, pretty much every store and look for something not made in China or made in the US, it is almost impossible which is a real shame and it is biting us and will bite us much worse further in the future if we just continue relying on China and everyone else for almost everything in the US.

So how is mmarshall or any of us supposed to buy/own a cell phone or laptop made in the US when they are almost impossible to find, that is what we are complaining about. Just because he has a phone or laptop made in China does not mean he can't voice a opinion about it or not like it, I have a feeling if there was a choice or decent choice he would have the US made or at least Canadian/Japanese/Korean made phone, laptop, car. I have no real issue buying foreign products made in non hostile to the US countries, its the made in China that I don't like and try to avoid but it is almost impossible unless I want to pay a small fortune with most products. I'll never buy a Chinese made car, I will just drive old cars if it comes to that.

Toys4RJill

(Strick-out MM). The strike by the UAW didn’t do anything to Barra’s legacy. If anything, she didn’t quite fine. Proof of that: post strike you bought a GM crossover that wasn’t even made by the UAW

mmarshall

Can't deny the numbers......GM lost billions in that strike, at one point almost a billion a day. And some Canadian UNIFOR branches also supported it, though to to the same extent.
I'm old enough to remember the 1970 GM strike, and even that one did not have the same effect.

It was made under a Union-equivalent in Korea. And at least the money doesn't go to one of our most prolific economic enemies....and to a country that treats its labor force unfairly, So I at least get a free walk to first base.

I used to have that attitude......doesn't matter where it's built, as long as it's screwed-together properly. But, more and more, it's becoming obvious that some auto-workers suffer more than others, under more stringent conditions of harder work and less pay/benefits. I don't want to help support those conditions with my wallet.

UDel

There is no real clear solid definition of millennial's, to many they are already in their 30's, to some they are in their 40's already so the group that in 10 years will be those ages are a younger generation according to many people, I guess the "Z Generation". I find it corny to group age groups in certain named "generations" especially when most are not clearly defined and seems to skip or encompass multiple generations.

SW17LS

You mention the cost of my S Class all the time, so clearly it does bother you. Not sure why.

This is a great example. You clearly can afford to buy clothes from places other than Wal Mart and Target that would be made places other than China, but you choose not to because the cost of clothes to you is more important than where they are made. I see nothing wrong with that, but just don't go talking about "buy American" when you can and choose not to. Its hypocritical.

No, he chose a crossover for all the reasons why people choose crossovers, go back to his original thread. He wanted to sit higher up, he wanted AWD, he wanted a smaller vehicle that was easier to maneuver.

Obviously sometimes you can't help it, but you can make choices that you CAN make. Its very easy to buy a car made in the US, you both chose not to. Its very easy to avoid products made in china outside of electronics and things like that. Just look at the labels on clothes and all, and don't shop in places like Wal Mart. My point is...neither of you do that...so you don't have any credibility when you say that people should buy American made products and care about where things are made.

I have never spent $1 in a Wal Mart. I refuse for many reasons, so when I suggest to people that they should support other businesses with better track records on a variety of subjects, I put my money where my mouth is.

I know people that really do try and buy American made products whenever they can and they pay more to do so, those are people that have the credibility to say that.

There is. The oldest millennials are just now turning 40 (1982/1981 is the oldest), all the way down to the group that is now in their mid-late 20s.

mmarshall

No, doesn't bother me. Only used it when I think it is relevant to what I am discussing. I respect your decision to buy and drive what you want....and for whatever that reason is. You also probably make a lot more than I do, but I don't really consider that my business, just as I don't discuss the specifics of my own pension and account-income.



The clothing/apparel market these days includes not only a lot of Chinese-made stuff, but also from Pakistan, India, Thailand, Taiwan, Viet Nam, and, in some cases, Latin America. I also usually do one of two things.....either wear the clothing I buy until it literally falls off my back and legs, or, in some cases, wear them a while, wash and clean them up, and donate them to thrift shops or clothing-drives (for a tax-deduction) to allow others to also get some use out of them before they have to be thrown out or cut up into rags.



True, but I didn't necessarily ask for the driving conditions that necessitated that. That is just what the D.C. suburbs have become...and we have to deal with it if we want to deal with reality.

And there is a reason WHY conditions have become like that in this area. For several reasons, it has become an economic Mecca, highly-resistant to recession/layoffs, and attractive to people from all over the world....who not only add sharply to the population, but the number of vehicles with them.


You can AFFORD not to shop at Walmart. Many people making at or near minimum wage shop there because, in a number of areas, it gives you a lot for your money. It's easy to make big decisions where one's money goes if one has plenty of it.

I probably would have paid a little more if the GX was available as a UAW-built product....but it wasn't. Still liked the vehicle enough, though, to accept Korean-Union-manufacture.

mmarshall

Great points, UDel. As usual, you have good insight.

SW17LS

You mention it a lot when it has nothing to do with the topic.

So can you. You choose not to. I have no problem with that, but just own the fact that you care more about about buying cheap clothes than you do supporting American labor or denying business to Chinese labor.

There are many reasons not to support Wal Mart specifically I can share in another context, Chinese labor isn't one of the main ones I would cite.

So you cared about the vehicle more than you cared about supporting American labor. Again, thats fine...just own that. Can't complain about manufacturers moving manufacturing to asia when you are complicit in it.

Like I said before, I don't care where a car is made as long as its a quality car. I stay away from Chinese built and made stuff if only because their stuff is usually crappy, but thats changing and more and more quality and luxury goods are going to be manufactured in China. Globalism.

UDel

I have bought 2 cars made in the US, they were Japanese branded but made in the US with US labor. Again I don't really care much about buying a Japanese or German made car, Chinese made though I will not give them that kind of money or trust it.

It is not easy at all to avoid products made in China aside from electronics, just about everything from staplers, pens, tools, etc is made in China. I wanted to buy US made tools several years ago, every brand that I thought was made in the US was made in China, that goes for power tools too, I had no real choice at the common stores.

I never bought clothes from Wal Mart, most of the clothes I buy are not made in China, one of the few exceptions. Not made in the US but not made in China. Not sure what is so wrong with Wal Mart though compared to most brick and mortar stores, not like the other places carry mostly non China stuff or pay their employees any more.

I have paid more money to get US or Japanese/German made products over Chinese but that has to do with quality too, it is hard to even find Japanese branded products made in Japan.

Different sources have different age ranges for Millenials, there is no official age range or definition. I remember when Kanye West said he was a millennial at some MTV thing and then people were making fun of him saying he was too old to be a millennial but others were saying he was too young to be Gen X so he is more or less a Millennial or maybe in between. I remember in the early to mid 90's I was told I was too young to be Gen X, Gen X generation was people a good deal older then me/you but then as the years went by the definition/range seemed change, some consider our age group Gen X. The grunge bands, NIN, Dr. Dre, etc were considered Gen X bands, the voice of Gen X yet most of them are at least in their mid 50's now, some late 50's, the movie "Reality Bites" was labeled a/the Gen X film, same with "Singles" yet most of the actors/director of those films are in their mid to late 50's so how does Gen X span such a wide age range and millennials seems to span a shorter age range. I don't really identify or care about those age group labels even though they get brought up all the time, kind of don't want to identify or consider myself a millennial because I think it is mostly negative but never really thought I was Gen X either, it is all kind of dumb.