GM Scores Among Award Finalists

Perhaps marking GM’s reemergence from the automobile wilderness, the domestic car giant makes four of the six finalists for the 2008 North American Car and Truck of the Year award. Even better, the automaker now finds itself in a position to score wins in both Car and Truck of the Year a feat no other company has achieved two years in a row, a feat no other company has achieved. 

Truck of the Year finalists include GM’s Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid SUV and Buick Enclave crossover SUV, with Mazda’s CX-9 crossover SUV filling the third spot. As for Car of the Year, the Honda Accord will compete with GM’s Cadillac CTS sport sedan and the highly praised Chevrolet Malibu midsize sedan.

Now if the world’s largest auto manufacturer could only transfer this success to sales. While its vehicles continue to improve, the perception of domestic cars in terms of quality and design still lags behind Japanese and European makes. Earning awards is nice, but earning back car shoppers is obviously GM’s more pressing goal.

Vote is in: GM Rules (Detroit Free Press)

Buick Enclave Flying Off Lots

The Wall Street Journal compiles a “Hot Off The Lot” list every month that marks how long a car stays on a dealer lot. In September, the new Buick Enclave crossover tied the seemingly undying Toyota Prius atop the list. It was followed by luxury SUVs like the BMW X5, Lexus RX and Mercedes-Benz GL.

Other interesting tidbits drawn from the numbers include the most popular color: white; the most-traded-in model: the Buick Rendezvous; and that the majority of Buick buyers were young — at least for that brand: 36 to 55 years old. 

Hot Off The Lot (Wall Street Journal via GM InsideNews)

Buick Enclave in Short Supply

Imagine a domestic vehicle in such short supply that there are 3,000 people on a waiting list just to get one.

And imagine that the domestic in high demand, but low supply, is a Buick — the 2008 Enclave crossover.

The only thing that would be more surprising is if the car was an Oldsmobile.

"We have 3,000 Enclaves on a waiting list nationwide,” said Buick spokesman Dave Darvitz. “Demand has been a pleasant surprise."

Darvitz said Buick will employ a third shift at its Delta Township, Mich., plant for six months to boost crossover output, with most earmarked for the Enclave. GM doesn't want to overbuild the vehicle and then get stuck offering incentives to move unsold inventory. Enclave is one of three new midsize crossovers at GM all built on the same assembly line. The others are the Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia.

A waiting list is an out of the ordinary event for Buick.

Cars.com Reviews the 2008 Buick Enclave

GM’s family of large crossovers gets its newest member with the Buick Enclave. The stodgy nameplate gets the sexiest of the bunch and the most upscale interior treatment, but does the rest of the driving experience live up to the looks? Mike Hanley delivers his take on the family hauler from Buick and of course the test vehicle was in the newest trendy paint color, light brown.

2008 Buick Enclave Expert Review

Tiger Woods Bumped as Buick Spokesman

No, Buick didn’t get LeBron James, Peyton Manning or Lance Armstrong. Those sports celebrities aren’t as desirable as Tiger Woods, according to advertising pundits. No one is. So it comes as a major surprise that GM is moving its greatest pitchman from Buick to a utility role shilling GM corporate products like OnStar.

This has to be one of the oddest moves in recent advertising history. As Buick’s lineup finally gets cooler, with the new Enclave crossover, the brand says it wants the products to shine on their own. It seems to us that the lovable Woods would make people pay attention to the commercial in the first place. Plus, as golf fans themselves get younger and more appealing to advertisers, Buick could also reduce its aging demographic.

The sports fan in us wonders if this will make it easier for Tiger to skip the Buick Open next week, which has been rumored since the birth of his first child last week. Whatever happens, this is GM’s move and not something Woods himself requested. We’ll wait until whoever made the decision gets a pink slip. We all remember the last time GM made a bold corporate move, putting small silver GM emblems on every model across the board. Not many people noticed. Now we’re guessing not many people will notice Buick ads.

GM: Tiger Woods Will Market OnStar, More (USA Today)

Hands On: Pontiac G8, Buick Enclave

I'm still in the wilds of Wisconsin, but have non-track camera photos that might be of interest. Last night we got an early look at the all-new Pontiac G8 sedan and Buick Enclave crossover. Check out the photo album for some cell phone shots (we didn't know the cars would be there or we would've brought a better camera) below.

Some initial reactions:

The G8 is really nice. This red G8 we got a look at isn't a production model, but it's the most polished prototype I've ever seen. I can't believe the one that goes on sale at the end of the year will be different in the least. Perhaps, the new emblem will get some alterations. A Pontiac rep said the new, silver one is getting a lot of positive comments though.

The interior is far beyond any Pontiac in a long time, mainly because it's from Australia, but even still, it is an improvement from the GTO's interior. The armrests for example are padded in leather. The rear seats are quite comfy too.

The red really shows off the car's menacing look well, and looks a hundred times better than the grey show car from the Chicago auto show.

We did get some vague comments on the price of the G8 which should be in the low $30,000 range up to "around" $35,000 for the top of the line GT, but no one was announcing anything this far in advance of the on sale date.

The Buick Enclave was exactly what I expected; a very nice adaptation of the Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia. There isn't more to really say. The layout is identical, the Enclave simply has nicer leather and trim pieces. The most obvious difference is the exterior styling which was quite nice in the maroon color of the display car.

Check out the cell phone photos here. I apologize for the low res. Feel free to ask me more questions in the comments below. 

Buick Enclave Incentive for Luxury Owners

When the Buick Enclave arrives at dealerships sometime in the near future — some dealers will see them by the end of the month, with full supplies expected in early July — there will be an incentive for owners of competing vehicles. Drivers who go from a luxury vehicle like the Lexus RX 350 — exact competing models involved in the promotion have not been announced — to the new Buick Enclave will get $1,000 cash back in what is called a “conquest cash incentive.”

Buick spokesman David Darovitz says there are already more early orders for the Enclave than the company can produce, so there’s no reason for it to offer a wider rebate, as was reported elsewhere on the web earlier this week.   

Related:
Buick Enclave Pricing Announced
2006 L.A. Auto Show: Buick Enclave

Buick Enclave Pricing Announced

The 2008 Buick Enclave crossover finally has a price. There are two trims, the CX starting at $32,055 for front-wheel drive and $34,055 for all-wheel drive and the CXL, with more standard equipment starting at $34,255 for front-wheel drive and $36,255 for all-wheel drive. Prices do not include the $735 destination charge. The Enclave will go on sale in early summer and comes with a 275 hp V-6 engine standard.

The Buick crossover is the third all-new crossover from GM and aims to steal buyers from luxury brands like Mercedes-Benz and BMW. The Saturn Outlook starts at $27,255 and the GMC Acadia starts at $29,255.

While we don’t think luxury buyers will pick the Enclave over more expensive vehicles on its own merits, it does offer a value factor because of its seating for seven and stylish exterior for well under $40,000.

Related:
2006 L.A. Auto Show: Buick Enclave

Buick More Popular in China

Buick isn’t what it used to be in the U.S., even with one of the world’s best athletes — Tiger Woods — promoting its new cars. Sales are down 15% this year, and that’s with relatively new products like the Lacrosse and Lucerne in the lineup. News isn’t so bad in China, though. The Chinese revere Buick’s heritage, and sales in that country increased more than 27% in 2006. That’s such a large boost, that Buick will sell more cars this year in China than it does in the U.S.

As for falling U.S. sales, until more products like the Buick Enclave, shown here, make their way to market, we don’t see this trend reversing any time soon for the GM brand. 

[China Could Save a Tarnished GM Brand, MSNBC.com]

2006 L.A. Auto Show: Buick Enclave

We all knew the Buick Enclave would look a lot like the concept vehicle we saw in Detroit 11 months ago, but the production vehicle is almost identical in every way, at least from the outside. The interior is nowhere near as luxurious as the concept, but we knew that would be the case — there’s no way a mass-production vehicle can match a handmade one. Still, the interior seems upgraded enough from the Saturn Outlook to warrant the estimated price increase from that sub-$30,000 sibling.

The exterior design of the Enclave is gorgeous for a glorified minivan. Don’t use that “M” word around GM, though. They call this a “luxury crossover SUV.” The real question will come down to price and whether or not the Enclave will step into Acura MDX territory (starting at $40,000). We’d expect GM to be savvy to that figure, though when the car hits dealers this summer.

Keep reading for a bunch of photos. There will be more information on the Enclave’s powertrain and other features later today in the Cars.com L.A. Auto Show section.