• by Karl Greenberg , December 16, 2015

Buick is the best automotive brand you don't know enough about. You might know the Enclave, or think you know it, but how about the Encore, LaCrosse, Cascada, or Verano? The good news is Buick sales have increased consistently over the past few years.

The brand also has a “Renaissance portfolio” of new products and is touting the vehicles with its successful “This isn't a Buick” themed campaign. And next year brings new vehicles, like Envision, and the 2017 LaCrosse. Marketing Daily spoke to Tony DiSalle, U.S. VP of Buick and GMC marketing, about Buick's luxury trajectory.

Marketing Daily: You revealed the new LaCrosse at the L.A. auto show a few weeks ago. How are sales for current vehicles?

DiSalle: Yes, it will go on sale next summer. We are set for the third consecutive year-over-year global sales record. We will sell over a million units in China alone. The all-time record for Buick was set in 1984, and that record was intact for 29 years. Then in 2013 we usurped it, then in '14 and '15 again. Obviously, with 80% of volume happening in China now, it's a different dynamic today. 

MD: What is the role for Buick in the U.S.? And where are buyers coming from?

DiSalle:  It is a premium brand; and we are targeting competitors like Acura and Infiniti. Forty-six percent of Buick customers are trading in a non-GM vehicle, so it's a good conquest play. About half of our conquests are coming from mainstream imports like Toyota and Honda; customers who are moving up into a luxury brand that positions itself very differently than anything else in the luxury class. 

MD: How so?

DiSalle: Most luxury brands position themselves as membership to an exclusive club. That isn't Buick: we are an inclusive, approachable, warm, down-to-earth luxury brand. You see that in our communications — our kind of self-deprecating humor. 

MD: How has that campaign worked? 

DiSalle: We have gotten Nielsen awards at the NY Auto Show for most effective luxury auto ad — and we won it again this past year, so it is breaking through and staying with consumers. We like to say we shout louder than we spend, and so with a brand like Buick we have to make more of an impact with every dollar we have. The campaign draws you in, and it is definitely about that false familiarity and misperception in a lot of consumers' minds, and we joke about that a little bit. But it always rewards the viewer with the unexpected surprise of what Buick is today.

MD: Is there an awareness problem?

DiSalle: There is a big issue with familiarity, but it's an opportunity as well. Unaided awareness is very high, but when you get down to the nameplate level they don't understand what vehicles we have today; they will say Century, LeSabre, Rendevous and whatever, as opposed to Regal, Encore and Enclave. So we have a lot of success from a sales standpoint with Enclave setting another sales record even though it's deep in its life cycle, but the brand is still not as prevalent in consumers' minds — as "contemporary" for consumers today as it needs to be. 

MD: What does the Buick owner look like now, in terms of age, and markets? 

DiSalle: The average owner age has come down six years in the last seven years to the 50's. While we don't have objectives around that, it tells us that we are broadening appeal of the overall brand. We are also seeing some geographic diversification. Historically, the Buick brand was heavy in the north-central region, and a little bit here in the Northeast, but we are seeing growth in Miami and Dallas, and the smile states. We are starting to see good growth in California.

MD: There's pressure on all brands to define themselves as "cool" in some way, especially to get younger people. Does Buick need to be cool?

DiSalle: Buick needs to be authentic. That's an important distinction. Our position is of an authentic, inclusive, inviting luxury brand, and the consumer would call us out quickly if we strayed from that. That said, I think we have done some things are that are cool, like the "24-hours of Happiness" test drive (where consumers can take a Buick home for a day, instead of having to do the traditional test drive with the dealer in the other seat.) It changed the paradigm of what a test drive should be and conveyed our confidence in the product, and trust in our consumers.