Nick D. Saporito

My black Regal GS tester near an old downtown building in Joplin, Mo.

Ed. Note: This will be one of few automotive posts on here.  It is very rant in nature…what can I say, I’m passionate about some stuff.

In case you haven’t figured it out by now, GM’s Buick brand has been on a rebound in recent years.  Ever since the launch of the successful Enclave in 2007, the brand has fairly consistently had one good product after another.  One such product has been the Regal GS sedan, a niche sport sedan that is–if nothing else–successful at giving all preconceived notions of Buick as an old-people brand the middle finger. Despite the fact that the GS screams anti-Buick stigma, the brand has thus far failed at capitalizing on it, particularly with Gen Y.

Let me start by saying I am not here to debate the Regal GS in terms of mechanical status or technical merit – I have another website for that.  This entire post is about the image and marketing of the car.

Based on Opel Insignia OPC (ascetically, anyway), the Regal GS sports vertical “fangs” on the front clip, integrated dual exhaust out back and absolutely gorgeous forged 20-inch polished wheels.  To top the car’s image off, the first impression is formed around a shocking growl from the exhaust and brakes that say “Brembo” on them.  Collectively, Buick isn’t the first auto marquee one thinks of when the car drives up. Oh, did I mention it also has a six-speed manual?

Granted, the GS has been hotly debated because of its turbo four-cylinder power and front-wheel drive configuration, but for image purposes…no one cares outside of car junkies like myself.  The indisputable fact is that this car’s image is defying brand perceptions at the highest possible levels.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have two Regal GS testers in the last six months.  The first was a black-on-black manual tester, and the one I have right now is a stunning red automatic version.  During my stint with both cars, head’s have constantly been caught turning to see what just drove by and bystanders asking questions is just the norm with it.

Once I tell them that it’s a “BUICK Regal” my reply is typically met with this puzzled, WTF? face.  For the select few that I’ve granted rides in my GS testers, the look usually ends up turning into a grin…particularly when the H/K sound system is deemed bump-worthy and the flat-bottom steering wheel is acknowledged.  It should be noted that my testers are typically driven around a college campus, not a retirement home.

Then the other day I was standing in the university parking lot.  As always I was scanning the vehicles to see if there was anything remotely exciting (yellow Aveo’s and Grand Am’s only go so far), and to my surprise this time there was!  Resting in one of the parking slots was a black, loaded Regal GS.  In the STUDENT parking lot.  I was absolutely stunned.

As fate would have it, the next day I figured out that the owner of said GS actually sat next to me in one of my classes.  She (yes, a female) was a 21 year old college student driving a brand new Buick.

As often the case, the revolution of this caused my analytical mind to go into overdrive.  Then, the following week (this week) I get my second GS tester and gauge overwhelmingly positive responses to it from my peers.  The combination led me to this…

Thus far Buick has failed to capitalize on the Regal GS’s image defying ability.  Yes, they advertise the car as a sports sedan, but the commercial with a middle aged couple fetching groceries (while good), is not doing the car justice.

Buick must start putting this car in front of Gen Y.  I realize that my generation, as a whole, does not have the purchasing parity to support the Regal GS, but that isn’t the point.  Buick lost a generation of buyers (my parents).  The brand has a chance thanks to my generation’s open mindedness to brand names, but we must be influenced early.  The GS in front of 20-30 year olds is the perfect way to pave a long-term path to success for the brand with Gen Y.

Once my generation is graduated from college and achieves their first “real” job, they are going to want to reward themselves.  In many cases, that’s going to be a premium car.  They likely won’t be able to afford the cool Cadillac’s, but they probably could manage a $36,000 Regal GS.  Most of Gen Y has watched our parent’s generation struggle and now we have struggled through the 2007-today economic conditions…Gen Y will be more than ready to reward themselves once the time is right to do so.

Need I also mention Gen Y’s influence on our parents.  As someone who witnessed the Facebook revolution while working for an ISP, I saw first-hand how grandparents and parents were adopting Facebook in droves…because the grandkids/kids were on there.  When Gen Y finds it “cool” the older generations seem to be following suit.  If Gen Y start’s positive word-of-mouth about Buick, perhaps the “lost generation” will warm back up to the brand.

What’s more interesting is that almost every GM brand has–at some point–tried to leverage an unprofitable “niche” product to use for image improvement.  We saw it with the Pontiac Solstice, Chevrolet SSR, Saturn Sky…the list goes on.  In almost every case the image improvement was never meaningful enough to justify the insanely unprofitable product.  Ironically, the GS is (I assume) profitable and is a better image changer for Buick just because, on the bandwidth of old vs. new Buick…the GS is beyond the scale.  The car literally squashes every bad perception of the brand.  On the other hand, the Solstice still had a crappy interior like all Pontiacs and the SSR was just useless.

Despite my antics, Buick does deserve some credit.  The brand has lowered its average buyer age and almost half of its sales are to non-GM owners; both excellent numbers and no small feat.  In fact my main hang up is really about the GS in particular because they keep using that same timid marketing that the rest of the brand gets.  The “your kind of luxury” branding is nice, but it does not appeal to me or likely anyone else in my generation.  Unfortunately I fear Cadillac is likely to blame for this…they don’t want Buick stepping on their “edgy” image.  To Cadillac I say this…move up-market where you belong.

NOTE: Part II of this will include my ideas of changing the GS marketing.