n his 1977 film, Annie Hall, the character played by Woody Allen remarked, “Ther

Question

n his 1977 film, Annie Hall, the character played by Woody Allen remarked, “There’s a spider in your bathroom the size of a Buick.” But Buick’s image of a maker of “land barges” suitable for drivers with plenty of gray hair is changing. Roger G. McCormack, Buick’s product director, describes Buick’s new positioning as “approachable luxury.” Slick, adventurous styling, along with a recognition that its 70-plus market was no longer buying Buicks, is driving the change. Darrell Bostic, age 30 with a wife and young chil- dren, recently bought a Buick Lacrosse, choosing it over Toyota’s Camry and Nissan’s Maxima. “The look of this car really got us,” says Bostic, a U.S. Navy man based in Corpus Christi, Texas. Buick’s sales, up 60 percent in 2010, make it the fastest-growing auto brand in the United States. Remaking a brand’s image is never easy, though, and Buick’s job is not yet done. Depart- ing from its geezer history is the best way for Buick to go, says CEO Jeremy Anwyl of the Edmunds auto website, “It’s better than where they were.”

Buick a division of General Motors used to known as a old mans car. Its target market was 70+ consumers which is a segment that would not drive sales increases in cars. Buick is trying a new positioning strategy "Affordable luxury". Additionally, Buick sells more cars in China then it does in the US.

Question 01

1. Why does Buick sell more cars in China then it does in the US?

Question 02

    2. Is the re-positioning of "Affordable Luxury" make sense and does it drive sales?

Question 03

3. Are Buick sales still increasing in 2016 vs. 2015? Why?

When you answer your questions please use different articel news, review or any soruce to support your answer and please put a link under (www.) so I can make sure it wasn't copied and paste. Will leave a thumbs up!!

Explanation / Answer

1. One of the key reasons why Buick sales more car in China than USA is because of their brand positioning in USA and China. General Motors and Buick has been present in USA for a long time. General Motors is over 100 years old in USA. On the other hand, the company entered China through a joint venture only 20 years ago.

The image and customer perception that has been established for GM’s brands in the USA has been developed over the course of 100 years. On the other hand, while entering the Chinese market, GM had the flexibility to position themselves differently. At this point they planned to go with the idea of young and affordable luxury approach in China for Buick. On the other hand, in the USA, Buick is often considered an old man’s car.

Now it not only boils down to branding and positioning of Buick but also we need to see the economic and per capita growth of the countries. USA economy has grown at 1-3% over the last two decades but China has grown at 7-10% over the last two decades. This economic boom in China meant that the country’s people were experiencing increase in their disposable income and per capita growth. This in turn established a mentality of aspiration for luxury. With this mind and positioning the Buick brand as affordable luxury, the market in China is better than USA for Buick.

2. The repositioning of brand as “Affordable Luxury” make sense depending on the demography that is being targeted. Consider the example of Buick. In the USA, the people are quite familiar with luxury. Many people can afford cars which are often considered luxury in other countries. Naturally, the idea of adding a word “Affordable” in front of luxury does not mean much. Secondly, the standard of living in USA is quite high compared to the rest of the world. As a result, when people seek luxury, they usually refer to exorbitantly priced products and services.

Now let’s compare this to China. The majority of the Chinese population have been poor by the western standard for the better part of the last century. In the last several decades, the economic condition in China has improved. Naturally, with the new lifestyle and fund, the people in China were looking for some kind of luxury products. However, considering their deep-rooted tradition of conservation and anti-splurging mentality, an item of “Affordable Luxury” will strike a chord with them. In such demographic conditions a brand positioned as affordable luxury will make sense and drive sales.

P.S. (not part of the answer) The information is collected from articles on the web. The rules of the question-answer board prevents sharing of URL. However you could use the following key terms on the search engines to find these articles. "Buick china sales vs US" "Buick is a lot more than dad wagon" "GM wikipedia" "Buick wikipedia". In case you are worried about copy pasted answers, you may also use anti-plagiarism tools to see if the answers match any articles online. Cheers.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse N
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.