Buick, the industry’s fastest-growing international brand, is looking to accommodate a new breed of luxury buyer through a new sub-brand named after Buick’s beloved concept, the Avenir.
Avenir, which is French for future, is symbolic of Buick’s desire to grow with the next generation of luxury shoppers, while still catering to its rapidly evolving customer base.
Much of Buick’s current performance can be attributed to its success among women and millennials, which comes courtesy of the brand’s foresight and focus on what matters to buyers, not what matters to magazines.
In 2013, around the same time Chevrolet brought the Trax to market in Canada, Buick dressed up the Opel Mokka into one of the first premium compact CUVs, helping to define one of the most competitive segments in North America. Three years on, Buick claims a quarter of all small CUVs on the road wear the Tri-Shield.
First with Encore, and now with Cascada, Buick has succeeded in pulling mainstream shoppers upward, Stuart Fowle, Buick’s Brand Communications boss, told “Encore is on track to have its best month ever in September, with more than half of those buyers coming from competitive brands.”
For Cascada, a similar story exists. Tony DiSalle, Buick’s U.S. VP of Marketing told me the personal convertible was seen as a lucrative white space after VW killed off the Eos in 2015.
Year to date, 60 percent of Cascada’s 5,326 buyers have been taken from other brands–proof of concept?
SEE ALSO: 2017 Buick Envision Review
Now, using Avenir, Buick will flip the strategy and chase the higher end of the market. “With Avenir, we think we have an opportunity to cater to buyers who have spent more for high-end luxury brands and don’t feel like they’ve gotten good value,” Fowle elaborated.
“Avenir models extend Buick upward to meet these buyers in the middle.”
The endeavor certainly isn’t without merit, for example, 90 percent of Enclave buyers already opt for one of two top shelf trims; and the $40,000 plus, Premier-only, 2016 Envision has posted a segment best 25-day turn rate since it showed up.
And if Buick takes what GMC’s done with Denali as testament, there could be an even hungrier appetite lurking above the ceiling.
Since 1999 GMC has nurtured Denali into a lucrative sub-brand which has consistently attracted a different calibre of clientele to the brand. According to Fowle, Denali buyers have been attracted to the brand because they want “something with value but also something different and special.” After watching Denali elevate GMC into the premium sphere, it’s now Buick’s turn.
How different and special Avenir Buick’s will be remains to be seen, Buick wouldn’t elaborate on specifics beyond a new Avista-style grille, big wheels, unique trim materials, finishes, and Avenir branding.
But Duncan Aldred, Buick’s VP of GlobalSales, Service and Marketing, did call Avenir the brand’s new signature which affirms “the highest expression of the luxury experiences we’re delivering now and in the future.”
Fowle wouldn’t confirm which Buicks will see Avenir treatment first, but did promise we would see three Avenir models globally within the next 18 months, and pegged availability in model year 2018.
Avenir represents an important piece of future direction for the brand, Buick is banking on its reputation for value, quality and safety, coupled with an extra sprinkling of special to appeal to the next generation of shoppers. Its about time GM’s second biggest brand started throwing its weight around.
