Wait, you missed the big webchat with Brian Sweeney, the latest general manager of GM's Buick/GMC duo-brand? Well good for you then, you probably made good use of that hour of your life. We on the other hand sat through it and learned, well, nothing.
Actually, we learned that Buick might still be stuck in a thick haze. You know, the one that made executives feel like everything was going just great when in fact everything was crumbling around them?
Not convinced? Then check out these choice passages from today's little back-and-forth with Buick's top exec.
Q: Why am I not seeing a lot of Lacrosses and Terrains at my local dealerships and when I ask if they are getting any, they tell me GM is not letting the dealers have them?
A: We're selling the LaCrosse and Terrain off the trucks, Nathan. They are both extremely hot and dealers are taking orders and selling them as they arrive. I can't speak to the specific situation you refer to.
Q: Does GMC have plans on having totally different vehicles than its brother Chevrolet?
A: Terrain is a great example of differentiation from Chevy -- only the only the windshield and roofline are shared with the Chevy Equinox. The Denali line is another exclusive to GMC and not Chevy.
Q: Brian, yesterday I saw an artist rendering of a 2011 Regal coupe. With Buick trying to change perceptions, appeal to a younger audience, and garner attention. A 2-door version would be a great idea for the return of the long awaited Grand National.
A: Thanks for your comment on the Regal. We love the enthusiasm for the Gran National.
Uh huh, Buick LaCrosse customers are buying them right off the trucks, GMC is waay different than Chevrolet and, of course, everybody loves the Gran National.
Q: Update us on development of a "premium small car" for Buick.
A: We showed a sketch of the future compact Buick in November in LA but at this time we haven't announced any additional details.
Q: I have a 2006 Rendezvous and really like it. . Would be interested in the planned small Buick CUV as a replacement. How soon will it be coming on the market?
A: The beauty of our combined Buick GMC dealers is that we have dealers offering both Buick and GMC -- there's an opportunity for Buick CUV buyers to get into a GMC Terrain and we are evaluating other future entries in this space for Buick and GMC.
Q: I think the new Buick Regal GS is an incredible car. My only queston is when will GM offer it with the 2.8L Turbo V6 found in the Opel Insignia OPC (AWD). The car seems underpowered even at 255 HP to me. If GM put the 325HP Turbo V6 in I'd buy one for sure.
A: At 255hp with 0-60 in less than 6 seconds we think we're in good shape if we bring this to production.
Q: Buick will always do well because of the quality of the build, the ride, the interior room, and offering more options as standard for the price than the competition. It is the hidden gem of the auto industry.
A: Thank you, Robert.
xprojected says:
12:12 PM, 01/21/10
Ed, could you be a little snarkier, please?
1487 says:
12:24 PM, 01/21/10
this post is even more pointless and less informative than the webchat. When do webchats EVER yield groundbreaking info? Also what other manufacturers are even doing them? Its hard to criticize it when others aren't even doing them.
Not sure how those "choice" passages convey incompetence at Buick. Oh wait, everything a GM rep says is evidence of incompetence- I forgot. The corporate speak at Toyota or Honda is MUCH more insightful.
kingkhalas says:
12:34 PM, 01/21/10
Worthless GM/ Buick propaganda.
stovt001 says:
01:54 PM, 01/21/10
Yes, the comment about the Terrain being different from the Equinox and the sycophant at the end were appalling, but otherwise I see nothing wrong with this. They made a point that anyone wanting a Buick CUV should get a GMC (finally refusing to overlap). Lots of people do love the Grand National, and with the positive response I'm hearing for the Regal, I think they can be a little confident. I will grant the comment about 255 hp being just fine was a bit disappointing. So there were good and bad moments, but even in this edited selection I saw little proof that they're oblivious.
smilez says:
02:24 PM, 01/21/10
1487, I get it. I've read plenty of your posts and understand that in your mind, EVERYONE HATES AMERICA. But please explain to me where on this page does anyone refer to foreign companies corporate speak being better than the U.S.???
Here's what I got from this article...IMO
When a struggling brand comes out with some amazing vehicles, Mr. Buick chief basically decides to avoid answering all questions; pulling a tangent on the ones he does answer; dismiss anything Ed asks (not that they were all that indepth of questions, and Ed didn't press on any of the responses); and basically give us nothing more than a "Be happy with what you have and leave me alone" attitude.
This is their cance to make America excited about what's coming down the pipeline and bring back the excitement that the Buick name once carried. But all I see here is garbage.
This was almost as much of a waste of time as reading an artice from THE MECHANIC...
dougtheeng says:
02:26 PM, 01/21/10
"Q: Buick will always do well because of the quality of the build, the ride, the interior room, and offering more options as standard for the price than the competition. It is the hidden gem of the auto industry.
A: Thank you, Robert. "
Q&A FAIL.
smilez says:
02:28 PM, 01/21/10
-dougtheeng
Nice!
minibro77 says:
02:57 PM, 01/21/10
His clock is ticking if the interim CEO has anything to do with it. He better get cracking at making Buick/GMC shine.
crowb says:
03:06 PM, 01/21/10
For the record, Ed. I continue to appreciate your tone.
nosubstitute says:
03:57 PM, 01/21/10
I stopped reading The Truth About Cars precisely because of these kinds of snipy posts. Please, no more. Let's keep Edmunds safe for people who actually like cars.
1487 says:
05:47 AM, 01/22/10
smilez:
I cant spoon feed everything to you. Stay around long enough and pay attention to the posts. On Straightline everything done or said by GM execs is usually met with a smart a$$ response as if everything uttered by anyuone working for GM is to be dismissed as inaccurate, disingenuous or misleading. This is not the case with ANYTHING said by Toyota, Honda, BMW, etc. Its only GM- and maybe Chrysler- not that Chrysler actually releases much info. A pointless blog entry on a pointless webchat is stupid- period. When do auto execs ever release NEW information about NEW products in webchat? NEVER. As for the Regal GS, they have already said a) the final car may have more power and b) the V6 is a GAS GUZZLER. Its not rocket science. I don't think Sweeney is being evasive when he said 255hp and 0-60 in 6 secs is solid for this kind of car. I think anyone who doesnt understand why they dont want a 4000lb Regal GS with a 15mpg V6 under the hood is an idiot.
1487 says:
05:50 AM, 01/22/10
"This is their cance to make America excited about what's coming down the pipeline and bring back the excitement that the Buick name once carried. But all I see here is garbage."
What do a few select responses from a webchat have to do with whether or not consumers get excited about Buick's lineup? What was said or not said here doesnt affect the products that are on sale or coming soon. If you like the Lacrosse or Regal than I don't think you give a damn what Sweeney said yesterday one way or another. BTW, point out an inspiring webchat from another manufacturer if you can. Other companies don't even DO this so I'm not sure why people are incensed about the answers offered in the Buick chat. When I see a useless post on IL about the webchat the word "garbage" definitely comes to mind. This is not "news".
throwback says:
07:10 AM, 01/22/10
Is it too late to get our tax money back?
1487 says:
07:47 AM, 01/22/10
too late to get the money borrowed from China back. sorry.
smilez says:
01:05 PM, 01/22/10
1487 - Now, it's obvious that you are law and anything written (or apparently not written...) is wrong, but I'll do what my wee little brain will allow me to do in response. "pay attention to the posts," Those are other posts (a lot of other posts), not this one. You were the second person to post on this particular forum, yelling at people that weren't there! You don't need to kill every post where meaningful dialogue is taking place and yell at anyone that has a comment that's even remotely against what an American says.
So because I'm not happy with the way this web chat went, I'm anti American auto industry and pro foreign? That makes no sense.
It's his job to bring back the Buick nameplate to prominence. I don't care if it's a web chat, news interview or smoke signals. I know it doesn't affect what's coming down the pipeline. I'm just saying that the American auto industry needs to do a lot of work to get the American confidence back enough to buy their products. So web chats, or whatever avenue, NEEDS to be taken advantage of by people like this to get people excited, keep them informed and at the very least, keep their attention away from the foreign companies.
This was a pretty useless post. Questions were bad, and answers were bad. But as I look through everyone's response, I still don't see anything pro-foreign. Not on this post anyway. And yet, you still complain about those phantom posts. I realize they are prominent on virtually every forum post, but not this one. So let everyone else talk amongst themselves and stop getting me all frazzled.
Enjoy the weekend everybody.