New LaCrosse Not Scoring Big With Buick's Preferred Prospects - Yet
September 20, 2009

General Motors Co. is counting on the 2010 Buick LaCrosse to be one of the company's first post- bankruptcy models to prove the company is serious about its professed new focus on developing only outstanding new products.

The LaCrosse may in fact be the most competitive and progressive Buick of the last 20 years. But whether the car can help change the perception of the brand and turn the heads of the luxury-car customers Buick is targeting is something that remains to be seen, according to data from Edmunds.com.

Buick officials have said they think the LaCrosse's blend of style, content and value will put the car on the consideration list of intenders for import entry-luxury sedans such as the Lexus ES 350 and Acura TL.

"Some of our targets are aspirational," said Craig Bierley, Buick product marketing director, in an AutoObserver interivew. "It's going to take time and effort in order for us to be seen by consumers in that space. We have to earn our way."

Time, indeed. In the early months of availability of the LaCrosse, consideration data generated by analysis of shopping patterns by visitors at Edmunds.com indicate the Buick is viewed less as a competitor for entry luxury sedans and more as a rival for the new generation of large-midsize mainstream sedans such as Ford Motor Co.'s heavily revised 2010 Taurus, the Honda Accord and even the LaCrosse's own showroom mate, the Lucerne.

Ford Taurus as the No. 1 cross-shop for the LaCrosse is no surprise, acknowledged, since Ford has a major marketing campaign on the Taurus now.

Meantime, the Lexus ES 350 is No. 10 on the list of models cross-shopped by LaCrosse intenders, however; 5 percent of potential LaCrosse buyers cross-shopped it with the ES 350 in August, according to Edmunds.com. The percent of intenders for the previous-generation LaCrosse who considered the ES 350: zero.

So in one sense, the new 2010 LaCrosse has snatched a look from at least some buyers also considering ES 350, where the Lexus entry model wasn't even on the screen for those considering the old LaCrosse.

But the 5 percent of LaCrosse intenders cross-shopping with the ES 350 compares with the No. 1 vehicle cross-shopped with the LaCrosse: the 2010 Taurus, looked at by 17 percent of LaCrosse shoppers. And No. 2 on the list is the Cadillac CTS -- a luxury car, certainly, but decidedly not a buyer GM would like Buick to conquest.

"We're encouraged Lexus showed up on the list. We're encouraged since it was not on the list for the old car," Bierley said. He noted that upcoming LaCrosse advertising will speak directly to the Lexus would-be buyer. "We will go full bore with the Lacrosse ad launch -- which is significantly resourced -- we'll see more interaction."

Buick's own Lucerne also remains high on the new LaCrosse's cross-shopping list, coming in at No. 3 in August -- and of the top 10 vehicles cross-shopped against the 2010 LaCrosse, only three are imports: the Hyundai Genesis (a mostly positive mark for Lacrosse, cross-shopped by 8 percent), the Honda Accord (No. 6 with 7 percent cross-shop) and the ES 350.

In the top 10 vehicles cross-shopped with the new LaCrosse in August, only the CTS, the Genesis and the ES 350 could be considered true luxury models.

But that definitely is an improvement over the cross-shopping list for the previous-generation LaCrosse, where Edmunds.com data show the only luxury model in the top 10 most cross-shopped with the LaCrosse was the Cadillac CTS (or, generously, Buick's Enclave).

Other interesting vehicles cross-shopped by LaCrosse intenders in August: Toyota Avalon and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.'s Infiniti G37 (4 percent) and BMW AG's 3-Series, Lincoln MKS and Acura TL (3 percent).

  Buick wants to grab more of the younger, hipper buyers who dished out for the surprise-hit Enclave crossover. The average age of buyers for all Buick's is in the 70s. Enclave buyers' average age is in the 50s.

Buick and GMC general manager Susan Docherty said at a LaCrosse press event earlier this summer the division is after the same kind of buyers as the Enclave, because "what they've got as a garage-mate is an import sedan.

"It's going to be an uphill battle," admitted Docherty. But she said Cadillac's brand rejuvenation has succeeded at winning younger customers and import buyers. --- Bill Visnic, Senior Contributing Editor

Graphic by Edmunds.com's

Photos by Buick

1 - 2010 Buick LaCrosse was unveiled at the Detroit auto show.

2 - 2010 Buick LaCrosse interior.

Additional information

Edmunds' Inside Line, a sister site to AutoObserver, put the new 2010 Buick LaCrosse to the test against the aging 2009 Lexus ES 350 and declared the LaCrosse the new

The review, which can be read in its entirety on Inside Line, concluded:

"What at first appeared to be a put-up-or-shut-up proposition for Buick has resulted in a thorough embarrassment for Lexus. The two entry-level luxury sedans are effectively tied in our ratings of performance and fuel, but every place else -- evaluation scores, feature content and price -- the 2010 Buick LaCrosse walks away from the 2009 Lexus ES 350 with a decisive 17-point victory.

"We're not saying the Lexus ES 350 is not a fine automobile; we're just saying its time has passed as a standard by which entry-level luxury sedans are to be measured. For that, you must consider the 2010 Buick LaCrosse CXS as the new leader in its class." -- Chris Walton, Edmunds.com Chief Road Tester

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