GM's Buick To Share Products Between China, US
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/...7_FORTUNE5.htm

DETROIT -(Dow Jones)- General Motors Corp.'s (GM) Buick division chief said
Tuesday the auto maker plans to "significantly" increase product-development
cooperation between the brand's fast-growing China unit and sluggish U.S.
unit by the end of the decade.
Buick General Manager Steve Shannon, talking to media following an
Automotive Press Association speech, said GM currently fosters little
product-development cooperation between Buick's China and U.S. operations.
The units combine to sell nearly all 567,000 Buicks sold worldwide on an
annual basis. Buick is GM's highest volume brand in China, where the auto
maker has quickly vaulted to No. 1.

He said the company has done some sharing between Buick China and the U.S.,
but that has taken place only by "happenstance" and the two product lineups
are largely different. GM is employing a global product-development
strategy, and Buick will be at the heart of that strategy. Shannon said the
two regions will employ "much more product sharing," and that the products
will continue to be built in their respective regions.

Shannon said he is not announcing a plan to build Buicks in China and sell
them in the U.S. "This doesn't have anything to do with where they will be
built," said Shannon. Instead, GM can save money and realize other benefits
by jointly engineering products to be sold in separate regions.

Buick Aims To Remain 'Upside'

Shannon said Buick is looking at ways to advertise its popularity in China
as a selling feature in the U.S. He said the idea is still in its formative
stage and struggled to name a U.S. product that has been able to effectively
market popularity overseas as a selling point for U.S. consumers. He
eventually referenced Converse tennis shoes and their popularity in Japan as
an example.

Even as Buick explores new marketing opportunities, Shannon said, Buick's
main goal is remaining a profitable component of GM. He said the division
has historically been in the black and referred to the newly launched Buick
Lucerne sedan as a "cash cow."

"Buick is all upside," Shannon said. Still, he admitted it needs to get more
inline with the mainstream.

"Do we need to get a little more relevant and a little more contemporary?
Sure." Nevertheless, profitability is "the starting point."

Buick carries a strong American heritage and, at 104 years old, is one of
the oldest brands in the U.S. auto industry. Its history is well-known
internationally, so much so that when GM decided to start selling cars in
China in the late 1990s, it opted to badge those vehicles as Buicks because
of the local respect for the brand.

GM is now the market leader in China, recently unseating longtime volume
king Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE). GM's strategy at Buick is being replicated at
Chevrolet as the auto maker expands its reach in emerging Eastern European
markets by selling Chevrolet models built in low-cost regions, such as
Korea.

Fading American Icon

Buick, like Chevrolet, is fading in the U.S. Buick sold 15% fewer vehicles
in 2006 than it did in 2005 in the U.S., and its sales volume of 240,000
vehicles last year was down 40% compared with 2000. The decline comes
despite GM's effort to overhaul the division's entire product lineup,
including the introduction of crossover vehicles, SUVs and minivans.

Shannon sees Buick sales coming in flat in 2007 in the U.S., but noted the
company's new marketing strategy that combines Buick stores into a combined
dealership with GM's GMC and Pontiac brands should help ensure profitability
despite sales declines. "We think we have a plan (and) we think we know what
this brand stands for," he said during his formal speech.

In April 2005, GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz suggested Buick and Pontiac,
another historic GM name in the company's eight-brand lineup, were "damaged"
and at risk of being killed. The company quickly sought to soften Lutz's
comments, but not before stoking the debate over whether GM supports too
many brands in the U.S., where it now holds less than a quarter of the
market share.

Now the company is banking on two entirely new models to remake its image -
the Lucerne and the forthcoming Enclave crossover vehicle. The Lucerne,
launched in 2005, has been praised by the enthusiast media as a solid
competitor in the large vehicle class, but executives, including Lutz, have
complained that GM's increasingly acclaimed product lineup has been saddled
by negative perceptions about GM's brands.

The seven-seat Enclave has an SUV's utility, but is based on a more fuel-
efficient passenger-car architecture. It hits showrooms later this year
carrying a price tag below similar crossover vehicles sold by Japanese
luxury brands. The Enclave will replace the Rendezvous crossover and Ranier
SUV currently sold by Buick.

The Enclave is "the right vehicle for the time," Shannon said, adding that
it's expected success will be instrumental in "a breakout year for us."

--
"If they pull a knife, you pull a gun. If they put one of yours in the
hospital, you put one of theirs in the morgue."
Sean Connery, "The Untouchables"

"Jim Higgins" <gordian238 (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote

In my industry, when times are tough there is a tendency for some management
to "chase rabbits". Instead of addressing the real problem (which may be
product
based, personnel based, quality based or price based) they start hopping to
new
geographical reqions, new product areas, etc hoping for a quick fix.

I have not yet seen a quick fix win.

We had a small competitive company operating in south Louisiana that was
doing only
$20 million a few years ago. Now they are at $200 million. Why? I am told
that they went
out and recruited performance people, vigorously. These people were
aggressive Type
A personalities who went out and sold rather than made politically correct
speeches
to management.

I wish Buick the best. Have been a customer for years. I believe they can
regain lost
ground, but it takes time, the right products, and the right business model.

Jim Higgins wrote:
Jim Higgins wrote:

----
One of GM's biggest selling points is chrome exhaust tips and they
advertise them every chance they get.

So I looked at their China cars, and sure enough:
http://www.buick.com.cn/c_model/regal_exterior.aspx

Interesting, it takes a new Chinese design center to actually focus on
and care about Buick.