- Buick aims to increase brand awareness with a comprehensive advertising campaign
- The company’s lineup includes four new or facelifted SUVs, led by the flagship Enclave.
- It is also betting on premium features to differentiate itself and drive increased sales.
Despite being the oldest surviving American automaker, Buick now boasts one of the freshest lineups in the North American market, featuring four new or facelifted SUVs. The company aims to revitalize its image and attract new customers with a premium, design-focused approach to stand out in a competitive landscape.
Buick’s lineup overhaul began with the facelifts of the Encore GX and Envision for the 2024 model year, showcasing the brand’s new design language inspired by the 2022 Buick Wildcat EV concept. The all-new Envista made its way from China to North America in 2024, followed by the next-generation Enclave flagship SUV for the 2025 model year. Buick’s first EV for the U.S. market was also slated to launch this year, but the debut has been delayed.
Targeting a balance between luxury and mainstream
Seckin Mart, Associate Director of Buick brand, Advertising & Media at GM, spoke to Automotive News about the renewed market positioning of Buick, aiming for a space between mainstream and luxury.
“We don’t want people to justify going up from mainstream or going down from luxury,” said Mart. We want to meet them where they are, and that’s intentionally the space for Buick. And we have the content to support that.”
More: Buick Delays Plan To Launch First EV In America
Mart also discussed Buick’s new tagline, Exceptional by design, introduced earlier this year. “When you try to refine a brand positioning or introduce a tagline, if you do it without product support, it never resonates. We can actually do things differently. And because we have strong product to support that and a new design language, it is getting people’s attention.”
2025 BUICK ENCLAVE
Buick will launch a new advertising campaign for the Enclave in October, hoping to boost consumer awareness by spotlighting the SUV’s technology and driving experience. The campaign will include TV, social and digital media, enabling a more “targeted outreach”.
“If you want to change mass opinion, to create mass awareness, then you need to be on mass media platforms,” Mart explained.
Pricing for the Buick Enclave starts at $46,395 for the base Preferred trim and reaches $59,395 for the fully loaded Avenir. The top-end trim boasts a 30-inch screen, ventilated and massaging seats, a panoramic sunroof, animated lighting, and 22-inch wheels. This generous feature set, along with sharper styling, reinforces the premium positioning of the SUV, despite a shift from the previous generation’s 3.6-liter V6 to a turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder.
Buick faces stiff competition in crowded SUV market
As reported by Auto News, the target audience for the Enclave is 60 percent male and 40 percent female, aged between 35 and 55 years old, married, and college-educated, with household incomes between $100,000 and $150,000.
Buick sold 89,830 units in North America during the first half of 2024, an 11% increase over last year. The arrival of the new Enclave could reignite interest in the SUV, which saw sales drop to 39,411 units in 2023, a far cry from its peak of 62,300 in 2014. Notably, competition in the Enclave’s segment has grown, with the number of rivals rising from 9 to 14 over the past decade.
Will it be enough?
Sam Fiorani of AutoForecast Solutions commented on the challenge of revitalizing a brand with a 120-year history. Buick has worked to shed its image as an “old man’s car,” aiming to attract younger buyers. However, the analyst believes it won’t be an easy road for Buick: “Their lineup is just four models, and while they’re relatively fresh, the market is saturated with small and midsize crossovers. Breaking away from the pack has proven extremely difficult.”
