Buick hopes design equates to sales boom

DETROIT — Buick is entering the spring selling season with an overhauled vehicle lineup, a new logo and brand campaign, and sales momentum on its side.

When the redesigned Enclave large crossover goes on sale this year, all four of the General Motors premium crossover brand's nameplates will have been introduced or updated within the last 18 months, starting with the subcompact Encore GX in February 2023. Buick this month debuted the next-generation Enclave and freshened Envision compact crossover, and it was the only GM brand to report higher first-quarter sales in the U.S.

The brand's lineup, powered by internal combustion engines, shares aesthetic elements drawn from an electric vehicle concept, the Wildcat, that emphasized sculptural lines, check mark-shaped headlights and a low-mounted, trapezoidal grille. The updates inspired Buick's first new tag line since 2008, "Exceptional by design," and brand leaders are highlighting its premium positioning to reach consumers looking for something between mass market and luxury.

Buick leaders say there are early signs the new design strategy is working. U.S. sales rose 16 percent in the first quarter — with retail sales up 10 percent — after jumping 61 percent from a supply-constrained 2022. Only 8 percent of its 2023 sales went to fleet buyers, they said.

"I'm really excited about what the brand is becoming again," GM President Mark Reuss told reporters during a Buick design event this month at the automaker's Global Technical Center in suburban Detroit.

Initial sales of vehicles with Buick's new look, Reuss said, have shown "it's priced right, it's gorgeous, and we're getting people that have never seen, thought about or purchased a Buick to come in and really give it a chance."

Loyalty is at its highest point in roughly two decades, said Duncan Aldred, vice president of global Buick and GMC. The new subcompact Envista, which went on sale last summer and continues to ramp up production, is Buick's fastest-turning vehicle and attracting the youngest buyers across all GM nameplates.

"We wanted to generate more business success, create new momentum, and I think we've certainly done that," Aldred said inside GM's Design Dome on the tech center campus.

"I look back and I don't recall any of the brands I've worked with ever transforming the product lineup so, so radically in such a short period of time," Aldred said, adding that the full updated lineup should be on sale by the third quarter.

Buick's next big introduction will be its first EV. It has joined Cadillac in committing to being GM's fully electric brands by 2030.

After the Envista launch, Buick said all new nameplates going forward will be electric. The brand has not confirmed details of its first EV, other than that it will use the Electra name with an alphanumeric and likely debut as a 2025 model.

The Wildcat EV concept was "first and foremost a proof of concept for the design language," one that initially was not intended to be shown publicly, said Bob Boniface, director of global Buick design. Each Buick vehicle will share some of the Wildcat's DNA while still maintaining a distinct personality, he said.

Future EVs "need to share that visual code," Boniface said, adding that the design process is the same whether the vehicle is powered by gasoline or an electric motor, albeit with nuanced differences for such elements as noise and aerodynamics.

"There's a lot of discussion in the marketplace — does the EV need to scream that it's something other than an internal combustion vehicle, or does it just need to seem like a beautiful car that just happens to be an EV?" he said.

"I would say 10 years ago, when EVs were still very new, you wanted to telegraph, say to the world, 'I'm driving something different.' Now that EVs are more ubiquitous, I don't know that that message needs to be as strong.

"It's tough to place your bets and predict where the market is going to be three years down the road, four years down the road," he said.

"We don't want people to buy it this year and two years or three years later have this car look old and move on to the next thing. We want Buicks to look good for a long time — timelessness. That's what the great brands do. And that's what we're very good at in here."