Friday, July 24, 2009

Closing Down the Buick Open?

Will the Buick Open be the next victim of the auto industry's woes?

Tim Twentyman of the Detroit News writes:
"When asked about the tournament's future beyond this year, local organizers aren't commenting, and General Motors has been mum about the situation. That only fuels speculation this year's tournament -- July 27-Aug. 2 -- could be the last for Buick."



1 comment:

  1. Marketing has to sell stuff...if not now, then in the future. It's only reasonable for GM to regularly analyze the impact of its marketing expenditures.

    I'm sure GM has been looking hard as its sales trajectory and average buyer age trend in North America compared to the powerhouse Buick performance in China, and the average influenced-viewer age for auto commercials during US TV coverage of golf.

    Buick couldn't be killed during the corporate phoenix act because of the China phenomenon. It's really hard to figure out what Buick means in North America, though, after Cadillac's re-invention.

    Maybe Cadillac should complete their shift to a focus on being a BMW competitor with models up and down the size/pricepoint scale, and Buick should become the cushy-luxo brand with a similar spread. It'll be hard to make that kind of change, though, given that Buick China hasn't been singing that song and Cadillac hasn't been equally strong in China.

    Whatever's done about Buick's worldwide identity and raison d'etre, my guess is that GM should move the Buick Open to Shanghai. Warwick Hills just doesn't make any marketing sense anymore.

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