No. I’m not talking about China. Buick is killing it, right now, right here in America. Land of the Free, Home of the Envista. And it’s not even close. Buick is not only outpacing all of GM’s other brands in America, in 2023 there’s no other mainstream brand that can touch it. Were you sleeping on Buick? Don’t sleep on Buick.
The beginning of the year is always a great time in the office of The Morning Dump, which exists one layer below Jason’s basement dwelling and consists mostly of hyper-intelligent guinea pigs I’ve trained to parse data. We’ve got sales data, dammit!
After a long diatribe about Buick, I’m going to launch into a slightly shorter one about the rest of GM’s lineup and a larger look at the haves and have-nots of Q4 2023 and what it means for 2024. Let’s follow that up with a look at how Ford is going to rationalize its F-150 Lightning sales and, hey, what’s the deal with Stellantis?
Buick Up 61.4% In 2023
How many Buick models can you name right now? Go ahead, I’ll wait.
I’ll give you a hint, they all start with En.
Ok, enough waiting. Here they are:
- The Buick Encore GX (aka the TrailBlazer)
- The Buick Envista (aka the Trax)
- The Buick Envision (aka the one built in China)
- The Buick Enclave (aka the seven-seat Traverse thing)
You may not know what all these cars are but, guess what, your neighbors do. Here’s another list. This is the list of brands that Buick sold more cars than in 2023:
- Acura (145,655)
- Genesis (69,175)
- Chrysler (133,739)
- Infiniti (64,699)
And all those brands had a good year, with sales up across the board!
Buick sold a total of 167,030 cars in 2023, which is up a whopping 61.4% year-over-year. The only other mainstream brand with that kind of growth is Acura, at 42.4% thanks to improvements in the supply chain and a new Integra. Infiniti, as well, was up 38.8%, which I think is due to affordability and accessibility. Overall, the car market was up 12.6% in 2023, so Buick is doing much, much, much better.
What gives?
Obviously, any sales report for 2023 needs to acknowledge that the lack of semiconductors meant that there was pent-up demand for products this year compared to 2022. But that’s true for every automaker and not every automaker improved as much in 2023 while also carrying that momentum into Q4, where Buick improved by 56.6%, compared to about 8% for the overall car market according to Automotive News.
There’s something bigger going on here and it has to do with America’s car affordability crunch.
Someone at Buick had the clever idea back in the early 2010s to plug the brand’s tired, aging lineup with a cute and pudgy little crossover designed and built for the Korean market. This was the original Encore and it was a surprise hit, selling almost 50,000 units in its first full year in the United States and another 82,000 units in China.
The near-premium/premium subcompact crossover segment wasn’t much of a thing until the Encore, with the BMW X1 and Mini Countryman sort of filling that spot, but not quite. The immediate success of the Encore showed other automakers the way and the Mercedes GLA/GLB, Lexus NX, XC40, and many others followed.
Affordability is the big factor here, though, as the seemingly very nice Buick Envista starts at just $22,400, with the newly larger Encore GX coming in at $25,600, and the larger Envision costing only $33,400 (all prices before freight/destination). Those are extremely competitive prices for what you get and, with everything else seemingly getting more expensive, the brand’s prices stand out as reasonable. Helping that affordability is the fact that the Envision is made in China and the Enivstas and Encore GXs are made in South Korea. Only the Enclave is made in the United States.
Buick has said it’s going to switch to an all-EV brand by the end of the decade and I wrote earlier this year about how nearly half of Buick’s dealers decided to take a cashout and abandon their Buick dealerships so they wouldn’t have to upgrade to support EVs, but I also think this is a strength for the brand as most of those dealers represented only a small portion of Buick sales and the company can now focus on supporting its more successful showrooms.
Does it make sense to make Buick all-EV given how popular the brand is now? Maybe. Buick has had a better year in China and that’s due partially to the launch of the Ultium-based EVs the Electra E5 and E4.
GM Is The Largest Automaker In America, Had A Rough Q4
I don’t have revenue numbers so it’s entirely possible that, given the product mix, GM made a ton of money in Q4 of 2023. Still, if your job is to sell cars you ideally want to sell more cars and GM barely did that in Q4 of 2023, just edging out Q4 2022 with an increase in sales of 0.3% or about 3,000 vehicles.
Cadillac was down 7.0%, Chevy was down 0.3%, GMC was down 6.5%, and only Buick was up significantly. A bright spot for Chevy was the Trax, related to the Buick Envista, which moved 109,382 units last year.
The EV sales are also interesting. The Chevy Blazer EV, which was MotorTrend‘s SUV of the Year, saw only 482 deliveries all year before a software issue led to a stop sale. The Lyriq was up to 9,154 sales for the year, including 3,820 in Q4. which is a big improvement.
What’s the best seller this year for GM in the EV segment? The soon-to-be-dead, late-to-be-replaced Chevy Bolt, which was up 62.8% year-over-year for a total sales of 62,045 EV/EUVs (though sales were down 22% in Q4).
Overall, GM’s annual sales of 2.6 million cars is better than Toyota-Lexus’s 2.2 million cars so GM still gets to be the biggest automaker in the United States. Ford hasn’t announced total sales yet so we can probably add that data in tomorrow.
Looking at the total market, the sales slowdown for Q4 is concerning if you’re a company like Stellantis, which was down for the quarter, but great if you’re Honda, a Mazda or a Toyota and there’s an opportunity to pick up market share.
Stellantis Pulls Out Of Chicago Auto Show, CES, LAAS
Speaking of Stellantis, the news there isn’t great. The company’s sales were down in the United States and most of its brands started 2024 with a largely mediocre product mix.
If there were any bright spots last year it was with plug-in hybrids, which rode tax credits to a 124% year-over-year increase. The Jeep Wrangler 4xe, Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe, and Chrysler Pacifica PHEV were the three best-selling plug-in hybrids in America for 2023.
So what of 2024? The brand currently has no real full battery electric vehicles for sale, but that’s apparently going to change in 2024 according to the company’s sales press release:
Stellantis will launch eight fully battery-electric vehicles (BEV) in the U.S. by the end of 2024, including Jeep Recon, Ram 1500 REV, Wagoneer S, Dodge Charger Daytona and Fiat (500e)RED.
[The] all new, all-electric Fiat 500e, available for order now at FiatUSA.com, will arrive on this side of the Atlantic as the first BEV offering from Stellantis
One would think that launching all of these EVs would involve promoting them at auto shows, but that’s not the company’s plan. Last year Stellantis pulled out of the LA Auto Show, SEMA and CES at the last minute. This year, Chicago, and Dallas are off the table, with Detroit up in the air.
Automotive News has a statement from the company:
This seems short-sighted to me as auto shows, even in this increasingly digital world, are one of the few places for consumers to get into vehicles.
Ford’s F-150 Lightning Pricing To Get Big Changes
We’ll get F-150 Lightning sales soon, but overall the sales will almost certainly be up over 2022. So what’s Ford doing for 2024? Simplifying.
Prices for entry-level models in 2024 will go up for lower-level models and down for higher trims, with the higher-level XLT and lower-level Lariat trims eliminated entirely.
Here’s The Detroit Free Press with a nice breakdown of the changes:
- Pro (240 mile EPA-estimated range) from $49,995 to $54,995
- XLT 311 A (240 mile EPA-estimated range) from $54,995 to $64,995
- XLT 312 A (320 mile EPA-estimated range) from $69,995 to eliminated in 2024
- Flash (320 mile EPA-estimated range) is a new offering for $73,495
- Lariat (240 mile EPA-estimated range) from $69,995 to eliminated in 2024
- Lariat (320 mile EPA-estimated range) from $77,495 to $79,495
- Platinum (300 mile EPA-estimated range) from $91,995 to $84,995
- Platinum Black (300 mile EPA-estimated range) from $97,995 to $92,995
I just want to point out that Lightning Flash is a great trim-level name.
What I’m Listening To As I Write This
The New Pornographers debut “Mass Romantic.” Dig the Neko Case action.
Stellantis really needs to figure out what their plan is in the US. Chrysler offers one vehicle, a minivan. Near as I can tell, FIAT offers NO new vehicles right now, between the death of the 500X and the incubation of the 500e. Jeep cranks up their prices in a weak attempt to become a “premium” brand, and drops their cheap CUV off the bottom of the list. Upon the death of Charger and Challenger, I don’t even know what’s still sold under the Dodge brand. It appears that all of Stellantis’ US profits come from 3 models – RAM pickups, ProMaster vans, and Jeep Wranglers. It’s time to poop or get off the pot.
Pretty sure Grand Cherokees makes them some money
There is a six-month supply of Grand Cherokees on dealer lots. Some of the biggest (only?) rebates out there are on GCs
Without the Challenger/Charger, Dodge has the Durango(should be a RAM), and the Hornet(that is an Alpha).
That’s it. So I agree, close Chrysler and Dodge, keep Jeep/Ram, and call it a day.
Ram commercial models’ sales have been growing the last few years.
Buick is a brand that only sells crossovers. Not a brand that gets any interest from automotive enthusiasts.
So? Honda and Toyota are very successful brands that make boring cars.
I started looking at the Envista, and was turned off at the fact that there was no awd. Its a tall fwd shooting brake.
The lack of AWD gives me pause, as well as no dual-zone climate, no rear wiper and not even a fourth cylinder.
But so help me, it’s sharp. Even my husband — who is absolutely not a car person — saw one as we were driving downtown and said, unprompted, “That Buick looks really nice.” If I had to buy a new car now, it’d get a serious look.
When did AWD become such a must-have feature?
Gee, Jeep is having problems selling $100k+ SUVs, while Buick is selling a goodly number of SUVs below $50k. I wonder why?
“Why? Why? This makes no sense!!! Our $100K+ SUVs are the shizzle.” – probably manufacturers
The blow in the C Suite ain’t gonna pay for itself.
Rented a Buick Encore over the summer and while it was nicer than it has any reason to be the 3 cylinder engine is pretty terrible. Not much power, no surprise, but the NVH was pretty bad.
Saw my first Lyriq in the wild yesterday and that thing really has a presence. Caddy did a nice job on that thing. As an added bonus, they already have 5-8k on the hood.
I saw my first Lyriq before the holidays and I agree with you, it sure stands out.
Wow, without Stellantis, the Chicago Auto Show is going to be a friggin ghost town. Their test tracks were a huge part of the floor plan, which was attempting to mask all the brands that have already abandoned it. It’s basically going to be Ford, GM, Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, and Kia. That’s about it. Oh, and maybe Volkswagen and BMW.
I honestly wonder if everyone will fit on one side now.
They were all on one side in ’21-’22, if I recall correctly.
They were. They made a big deal about it being back to two sides last year, but a huge chunk of one side was an EV test track for various brands.
They definitely will. They made a big deal about it being back to two sides last year, but it was a stretch because a huge chunk of the one side was a big test track for various brands’ EVs. I’m curious if they try to stretch it two sides again. It will be hilariously thin if they do. I only go because a buddy of mine hooks me up with free tickets. The show was already a shell of it’s former self before this announcement.
I go every year, because I always have, since 1981 or so. Even managed to get into the Covid show of ’20. But you’re right, last year it looked like the fat lady might be warming up, and this was despite the fact both sides were in use.
It actually felt worse IMO, when they stretched it back to both sides last year. I can’t even imagine the ghost town it will be without all the floor space that Stellantis took up with their test ride tracks.
I’m glad to see Buick’s doing well, and I think there’s a lot of potential for the brand. I never considered buying a GM before but I needed a car with no cash and no credit. I knew a guy at a GM dealership and he worked with the bank to come up with a car they’d finance for me. It was a 2018 Buick Encore. It cost me $20k and I’m always glad to see the Buick price points not going too terribly far above that since then. That thing was great until a deer jumped in front of it at midnight on the highway and totalled it.
In terms of the brand’s potential, today there’s a lot of talk about brands getting pushed out of the Chinese market. Buick has a long and storied history in Shanghai and the Shanghai History Museum is in many ways a love letter to Buick. If there was any shot for GM in China, I think they should utilize that cultural tie in.
Each of those Buicks is better looking than its Chevy counterpart. That might have something to do with it.
I see tons of Buicks where I live, but I thought it was because Buick-GMC is the only new car dealership within a rather sizable radius. It’s a bit peculiar, like living in the Truman Show if sponsored by Buick.
the real question is will the UAW peeps let Envistas and Encores park in the American brand parking spots at the few remaining US Car plants?
The UAW plant in my hometown made transfer cases, usually under Chrysler ownership, and during the Daimler-Chrysler years those cases made their way into Mercedes MLs. My understanding was Mercedes was still relegated to the “import” lot.
GM nailed it with this generation of Trax. I saw a new one yesterday and thought, “I’d consider one if anything happened to my current car.” Well-styled, right-sized and right-priced. Plus this one was two-tone white over lime green. Not surprising the Buick version is selling well. It has good bones. Unlike the first generation Trax which was an uninspired blobby penalty box of a car worse than a Sonic in every respect.
Buick should sell the GL8 over here
Ok, but I’m going to pronounce that “Glate”.
Old guy rant: Why do the recent bands listed have “edgy” names? Maybe I’m out of touch but back in my day bands were a bunch of dudes with permed out hair in leopard print spandex and called themselves Cinderella or Twisted Sister and got on with making music, now it’s just all hippy dippy kids naming themselves something offensive. /rant.
Also Buick is really weird, like I guess it’s what Oldsmobile would be if it kept going? generic comfortable cars for retirees, I don’t get that either. In my day they had things like the Grand National.
I mean the New Pornographers have been around since 1997 so I think you might be a smidge out of touch.
Though this does remind me of when my dad would complain about The Barenaked Ladies and Prairie Oyster, the latter especially amusing since my mom really liked that band.
Off the top of my old guy head:
Sex Pistols
Steely Dan
Buzzcocks
Sure there’s a lot more from back in the day.
But where’s the Aquanet? Where’s the zebra stripes? Where’s the showmanship???? Bunch of kids dressed like they’re going to the mall.
Also Butthole Surfers
Spread Eagle
Nashville Pussy
Circle Jerks
Yeah… offensive band names are nothing new.
Don’t forget the Spinal Tap classic Lick My Love Pump
It’s the saddest of all keys
Vanity 6 was originally called The Hookers for a brief period.
Oh, damn, you had to bring them up
’Oh, you mean you were swallowing him.
Why don’t you just tie a mattress to your back?’
I hate that that line instantly came to mind: I survived that year and would like it lost in the dusty attic of memory
No mention of Anal Cunt or Pig Destroyer?
RIP Seth Putnam
What’s offensive about birds, cats, and soda jerks?
Also, you left out Thunder Pussy and Pussy Riot. With Nashville Pussy, they form the Pussy Triumvirate. You should try and catch them on the “No Douches Allowed” tour.
It’d be a triummulierate.
Stinky Finger
(local band from Bristol TN)
I’d rather wear a Revolting C… Shirt than whatever Autograph wore
Metallica originally tried to call their first album Metal Up Your Ass but was forced by their label to change it to Kill ‘Em All. AC/DC has a song called Big Balls. There’s a band called Nashville Pussy that’s been around since the 90s that oldhead rock dudes love. I also find the shout outs to glam metal acts for their wholesome names pretty hilarious when they were writing songs like Seventeen, Girls Girls Girls, etc.
I don’t like to throw Ok Boomer around willy nilly because it’s become so overused and cliched but this is as pure of an Ok Boomer moment that I’ve seen in a while. Also New Pornographers are like…deeply inoffensive dad rock lol.
Just take it like a sweet injection
Just a token of my affection
Another night we’ll take another direction
I’m going to play you like a rhythm section
……
And when she’s in the mood
When she needs that loving groove
When she wants it rude
She grooves with mista bone
“Mista Bone”, Great White, circa 1989
I love me some Great White, so all the pearl clutching about “WAP” was pretty hilarious.
The same people offended by WAP don’t mind Robert Plant giving you every inch of his love. Shrug.
Lovin’ Spoonful
10 CC
Not offensive, but certainly suggestive
Olds would have never survived. Buick only exists because China propped the brand up weirdly for the past 2 decades. now they are finally building stuff that fits with American tastes well enough and the Chinese slave labor pricing is being ignored because the name plate is technically from the US.
Yep and that’s with the big tariffs they can still sell here for a profit, gotta be saving money somewhere.
Would you prefer to buy products made with good ol’ fashioned American slave labor?
Thanks to the 13th amendment you can! And do!
https://marketrealist.com/p/companies-that-use-prison-labor/
The Envista is MIK.
LOL at using Cinderella and Twisted Sister as examples of bands that cared more about “the music” than their image.
(Don’t get me wrong, I loved both of those bands, but man oh man)
It was mostly tongue in cheek but I definitely don’t have the same taste in music as Matt, I try to keep an open ear but the older I get the more I fall back on comfortable stuff from my youth.
Those two might not be great examples. Tom Keifer/Cinderella probably just did what they felt was necessary to get a record deal in the late 80’s. After that, he went back to making bluesy rock (starting with Long Cold Winter) that is fairly well reviewed.
And early Twisted Sister was legit good, most metal heads give respect to the first two albums. Dee and company were just doing what so many other bands have done before and after, find an angle to get noticed.
I know, right? I miss the days when whole names like Madonna and The Dead Kennedys were sold at the local Tower Records
Yeah, bring back the days of the Flaming Lips and Squeeze!
I think you misinterpreted that, lol.
I get it, my original comment was tongue in cheek, like boomers complaining about 80s music when they had Hendrix and Chuck Berry. Also 2 Live Crew was a thing.
I did the lights for a 2 Live Crew show one night. It made a strip club seem like Sunday school. To their credit, they did buy my drinks for the night when they didn’t have to. Nice guys.
Nice!
I like these:
-Goat Smegma
-Fondlecorpse
-Prostitute Disfigurement
-Human Compost
-Rotting Christ
-Butchers Harem
-Interbreeding
How’d you forget Infant Annihilator, Cattle Decapitation, Goatwhore, and Dying Fetus?!
Familiar with Cattle Decapitation and Dying Fetus, but not the others!
Goatwhore is legit good.
So is Goat Smegma. The cover art for their works is a delightful eyesore.
It’s now on my list to check out
Cattle Decapitation’s last 2 albums are fucking masterpieces, too
I personally think they kind of peaked with The Anthropocene Extinction but they’re ridiculous talented. If I had to pick my ultimate metal supergroup there’s a good chance Travis would be my vocalist.
IRISH GOBLIN
“Human Compost” had me cackling
The New Pornographers are not a “recent” band, their debut album was released in 2000.
To me that was like 3 years ago. 🙂
I’m 52, I get it. But that’s not a band I would consider myself hip to be listening to. Do the kids still say hip? Anyway, one of their members is Neko Case, and she’s the shit.
I’m so out of it I didn’t know if that was a member of the band or a fancy instrument they were using or one of the Caterpillar backhoes in the background, so that makes more sense, she does have good range.
Not the backhoe, the front one.
(Sorry but the joke was right there and I just had to)
Bands from that era included Faster Pussycat, WASP (“We Are Sexual Perverts”), Revolting C-cks, Circle Jerks, Butthole Surfers, Dayglo Abortions, and many more.
Yup.
“GM Is The Largest Automaker In America, Had A Rough Q4”
It’s almost like production was affected for a month in Q4…..
So one comment – this is wrong:
GM’s job isn’t to sell cars. GM the corporation’s job is to make money. Selling more cars won’t necessarily equal more profit, especially margin.
This is why they’re cancelling the Bolt, which has been the top-selling EV from any legacy automaker or indeed anyone but Tesla since the supply chain started being less straitened (and indeed, they still don’t hang around on dealer lots). They wanted to convert the line for a big EV pickup for that sweet, sweet per-unit margin.
With its’ bought-in battery system and the frankly boneheaded move of having the EV and EUV submodels with such distinct body tooling and near identical market positioning, they had to be losing money on it. If it returns as a single model just as keenly priced and using the in-house Ultium platform which by then should have its’ bugs worked out, it’ll be a much-needed hit for GM.
Exactly this. A case in point is FCA/Stellantis. Their aging lineup was kind of a joke to some, but it was also massively profitable. They were making great money on their vehicles, and that only started to change with the pandemic (when everyone’s fortunes fell).
Unfortunately for them, this easy money, combined with Sergio’s perennial quest for a buyout/merger, basically halted investment in new car development, which is why their brands are now several years behind the rest of the industry.
During the complete 2023 calendar year, Ford Motor Company sales increased 7.1 percent to 1,995,912 units.
I’m going to take a guess at the demographic most commonly buying a Buick Envista:
Baby boomers entering retirement that want their “final” car. The buyers are after comfort, tall ride height, decent fuel economy, wide parts availability, reliability, but don’t want to spend excessive amounts of money on it and want these things as inexpensive as possible.
You don’t need to be someone with one foot on the grave and the other on a banana peel to find all of those qualities (plus some genuinely nice styling) appealing.
True, but you do have to have the money to buy it. There aren’t a whole lot of younger folks buying new cars these days…
…and make that some steel spikes next to that banana peel, dipped in nightshade. 🙂
And some of those might find the Trax’s styling and slightly bigger overall cargo volume due to its’ boxier shape appealing.
For those younger people who ARE looking to buy, it’s one of the few truly decent options available for only $25k.
Definitely both Zoomer and Boomer desires.
The only bit that might be different if the Zoomers want all that and bleeding edge tech, the Boomers, just want to be able to turn on the AC and change a station with an honest to god push button.
This was true of the original Encore too, but that also had surprising appeal to buyers of all ages. While smaller than your typical RAV4/CR-V type crossovers at the time, you got a better-equipped/comfier car, and for some buyers that wanted the features but not the size that could actually be an advantage. That remained true as more like-sized vehicles popped up, and even though it was getting on in years, Encore prices didn’t really increase (unlike say…Jeeps), they just scaled back to lower end trims and added the GX above it. Buick crossovers as a whole don’t seem to carry the same old-person image that the sedans of yore did.
I saw the price increases for the Lightning yesterday, they are so lame. Ford is just tacking the tax rebate onto the MSRP. Bumping the XLT by $10K? What? It better be loaded with pro power, tow stuff, sunroof, kung fu grip, etc.
What’s really mindbending is that my local dealers have 2023s just sitting. I bet they can’t wait for the 2024s to roll in!
they are also cutting production from a bit over 3000 a month to just 1600. I assume that is because of excess inventory, but it might also be to do the Maverick thing and create artificial demand when they cannot “make” enough of them.
It’s easy to monday-morning-quarterback this topic, but if Ford had simply rolled out a 50K Pro, and only the Pro, from the get go they would be killing it. Ugh. I’ll save up for a Rivian.
“I’ll save up for a Rivian.”
Make sure the bugs are worked out. My sister is close to demanding hers be declared a lemon due to its constant problems.
It is Thursday Sir, and those 50K pro’s were fleet only by design. I happen to work with fleets and I agree, even at the increased price from the promised $40kish price, a 50K XLT pro with advertised 300 mile range was a pretty decent deal, just nobody was allowed to buy them outside of the fleets. And let’s be honest, 50K is still a lot of money.
That’s pretty much what every manufacturer who is eligible for the rebate has done. Back when it was limited to 250000 cars, when companies hit that threshold the price of their cars almost universally dropped by the amount of the rebate.
I’m not sold that auto shows really matter anymore. Sure, it’s not exactly expensive to set up a booth or section for these companies when compared to overall marketing spend, but it seems like it’s more a waste of time and energy. I see auto show attendees anymore as either industry folk, or regular folks that don’t have all that much to do that day for the most part. Basically, the same type of people that either attend or pay attention to those pre-award show red carpet broadcasts.
It would be interesting to see the data on the actual sales conversion per attendee (head of household). It can’t really be all that high, can it?
Who do you think used to go to auto shows?
This is a weird take, buddy.
There might be something to this – I think in the old, pre-internet days, for most people, an auto show was a place to see a vehicle in real life, beyond just a few PR shots in a brochure but without an obnoxious salesman standing over you.
Sure, the halo effect of the concepts drew people in, but maybe for a lot of them, it was a chance to size up that new Ford Tempo they’d read about or whathaveyou.
Now, the internet allows a fair approximation of this, so perhaps the purpose of the shows has changed a little?
The Montreal car show was (is?) put on by the dealership association here.
I remember us going as a family to sit in all the different models to narrow down the options before hitting the dealerships.
How is it weird? Mass internet adoption and the rise in social media and online video sites allow research to be done by the average buyer to narrow down choices to 2 (maybe 3) models at the most.
Back in the “dark ages” of paper/magazine media, people would have a budget set and go comparison shop everything in that range to see them in 3D. There is no need to do that anymore.
And the more common way to do that would be to visit dealers, not a once-a-year car show in a usually far-off city. Most people don’t live in the cities these car shows are held in, and they don’t have the time to budget for when the annual car show is being held to go car shopping.
As newer vehicles become more akin to washing machines, this will likely continue to slide along with it. (Obviously, I would prefer more excitement, but we can’t always get what we want)
It’s been almost ten years, but the NY Auto Show in 2014 (to which I went for 35 years) cemented my choice of car…that I still have.
I’ve been going to the Chicago Auto Show every year since 2008 (except 2021 & 2022). As someone who likes cars, it’s nice to see lots of cars from different makes all in one spot, and I’m able to touch most of them. Fiddle with the switches, look in the trunk, assess the build quality, and see how comfy they are to sit in. This is especially helpful when I’m in the market for a car. No driving to different dealerships and having pushy salesmen hover over me. At the auto show, I can check out a car as long as I want. With tight supply for some brands, the auto show may be the only opportunity to check out a car in-the-flesh. For me, viewing a 3D model online isn’t good enough.
906,000 sold in 1970…
The same people are still buying Buicks, they are just going extinct.
I think I am more impressed that Chrysler was able to move 133k Pacificas and tired-assed 300s last year!
Counterpoint: the 300 offers RWD and a V8 and that will literally always be cool
Admittedly I have never been a huge fan of the 300, but even so I think it is fair to classify a model being in production for 20 years with only one redesign during that time and even the last refresh coming 10 years ago as “tired-assed.”
I read it in a good way. As an SN95 Mustang owner, I have affection for automakers who offer a niche vehicle by making the most of what they have for as long as possible.
My all-time favorite review of my Mustang came from Consumer Reports, along the lines of “the continued popularity of this primitive rear-driver continues to elude us.” 😉
I do kind of wish they had offered AWD in a 300/magnum Chrysler Wagon with a the last gasp 6.4 300C models. it would be ridiculous, but I still kind of want one. Surely if the trackhawk exists, this would be no issue for a flying boot by Chrysler.
They really missed an opportunity to offer an AWD 300 or Charger with the 5.7 or 6.4. The platform is AWD capable and they already have it sorted in the Durango/Trackhawk/etc…slash they sell a 5.7/AWD Charger to police departments. It was right there and they just couldn’t be bothered.
You’re gonna really be floored when you see Toyota 4Runner sales numbers.
Warm take: the Envista seems like a great car. I’ve actually seen a few in person and they’re unique looking enough that I did a double take the first few times I saw them. You may not personally like the styling (and I’d imagine most here don’t because we’re hardcore coupe-ified SUV haters) but they stand out and look way more expensive than they are.
Seriously. If you didn’t see the Buick badge you’d probably think it was a German luxury car. And GM was actually smart for once with the form factor! They designed this so the swoopy roof doesn’t impact rear headroom, which Ze Germans can’t seem to do.
And, it’s cheap! ACTUALLY cheap! You can get into them in the low 20s and the maxed out ones are only in the low 30s and offer a sprinkling of actual luxury touches. Plus they avoid the most mortal sin of economy cars-they have a torque converter auto rather than a CVT! They’re even pretty efficient to boot…I want to say they get around 30 MPG combined.
No shit they’re selling. People want affordable cars and GM actually did something right and put a lot of work into making a pair of affordable cars that don’t suck. Good on them, they’re unicorns in this dystopian automotive landscape…and if someone with a tight budget asked me to recommend a new car for them I’d definitely mention the Trax and Envista.
Despite being and enthusiast I have a real appreciation for a well thought out appliance. Cars that are cheap, competent, and cheerful will always have a place in my heart. The Envista is all of those things.
I had the same reaction to the Envistas I’ve seen, I thought they were some new Audi until I saw the badge. Really well executed.
If a car looks way more expensive than it is then I personally think the design team did a really good job. I’d be curious to hear what Adrian’s take on it is.
I am sure the conversations in the corner offices of the manufacturers are going crazy. “How is Buick beating us? We have higher quality vehicles, higher pricing and higher everything?!”
Of course if you want someone to buy your car, you need to make it possible for them to buy your car. With financing not so great an option, the lower prices make it work.
Yup. It’s hard to make financing the $50,000 car these manufacturers actually want you to buy work when the average interest rate is goddamn 7%…and obviously it’s way easier to make 23k in cash appear than 50.
I’ve been slowly adapting to the high prices of cars as I shop, but I still see “$50,000” as a home addition, not a freaking car. Of course I want the nice shit, I could buy a less expensive vehicle to suit my needs but then I might die and never experience a panoramic sunroof and wireless CarPlay.
I have a weird soft spot for the Lincoln Corsair for the same reasons, but it is probably not cheap at all. The pre-facelift Corsair also looked weirdly good in my eyes, but my experience with my Focus and my friend’s Focus and my other friend’s Fusion and my other friend’s Escape have made me swear never to buy FoMoCo again.
My brothers-in law have one and it’s lovely.
This is well said. The last few times I’ve rented a car, there have been cheaper Buicks on the lot next to the usual Nissans and Kias. Just sitting in the Buick and then one of the Nissans will make you think the Buick is considerably more expensive, but it isn’t actually the case.
And the Buick doesn’t force you to deal with a goddamn Jatco CVT, a penalty box interior, or the stigma of driving a goddamn Nissan….
“or the stigma of driving a goddamn Nissan….”
Just the stigma of driving a oldman Buick.
Id rather people think I’m an old than think I’m a psychopath 😉
Why should other people’s little thoughts decide which car you should own?
They shouldn’t, I said that in jest. But all joking aside I would never buy a Nissan unless it’s a Z of some form or GTR. I wouldn’t touch any of their appliances for one brutally obvious, 3 letter reason….
I also thinks it looks great, but I would not want to own a 1.2 ecotec turbo out-of-warranty.
Yet another application of a timing belt in oil, what could go wrong?
That Neko Case voice! Even with the generic speaker system in my Fit she can make that car rattle when I blare Middle Cyclone or Fox Confessor.
See her live, if you can!
Neko Case is a national treasure. Twin Cinema introduced me to Case, and I went down a rabbit hole collecting everything she produced. case/lang/veirs demonstrates her songwriting talents in comparison to peers.
With Buick, I think it is helpful to remember that they sold 229,000 vehicles here in 2016, and 207,000 in the last “normal” year in 2019, so while they are improving, they’re still nowhere near where they’ve been in recent history (to say nothing of the 1 million vehicles a year they sold domestically in the mid 1980s)
They are the official brand of “nowhere to go but up”
In the sense that you are about to die, and you went to church every Sunday?
Think we’ll be seeing a lot of that from some brands for a while yet. Several brands tumbled in 2022, some moreso than others.
Honda was one I noticed going before 2023 was even up that was touting growth but had dropped the year before. The Honda brand was up 31.9% and Acura 42% in 2023 vs. 2022. But that came after drops of 32.7% and 35%, respectively, in 2022 vs. 2021. It’s quite possible that they are more profitable now because most of the lineup is completely redesigned over 2021, but they also still moved fewer units overall in 2023 than in 2021.
Envista, like most of Buick’s model names now, sounds like one of those drugs advertised in a 3 minute commercial.
Do not buy Envista if you are allergic to Envista or any of its ingredients.
May cause nausea, vomiting, explosive diarrhea, bloody stool, panic attacks, auditory and visual hallucinations, shortness of breath, amnesia, heart attack, stroke, cancer, and death. Please contact your physician is you experience any of these symptoms. Envista is not FDA approved to treat anything at all. If you need financial assistance because Envista costs $4,300 per 30 day supply please give Antisocial Cretins Pharmacological Scam a call, we may be able to help get it down to $4,175!
One of my favorite quotes from clicking on a character many times in Warcraft 3 is the human Priest, who lists the possible side effects of using magic in a similar way. Hilariously, the list ends “[…], death, and halitosis.”
And may worsen the dementia that caused you to buy the darn thing in the first place!