You know what doesn't make sense?

"bhtooefr" (bhtooefr) 10/02/2018 at 20:12 • Filed to: stupid useless vehicles, Crossovers, gmc, buick, acadia, terrain, enclave, envision

0

43

These things.

GMC and Buick are sold at the same dealerships.

So why is GMC selling (almost) the same thing as Buick at the same dealerships?

Tristan > bhtooefr 10/02/2018 at 20:16

7

Why does GMC still exist as a brand after Saturn, Hummer, Oldsmobile and Pontiac all had to die? What does GMC sell that isn't a rebadge of another GM product?

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > bhtooefr 10/02/2018 at 20:19

1

franchise laws. 

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > bhtooefr 10/02/2018 at 20:19

1

Because “ We are professional grade” bro!

Textured Soy Protein > bhtooefr 10/02/2018 at 20:19

1

The Terrain and Envision overlap but the Terrain is the supposedly burly one and the Envision is the supposedly luxury one.

The Acadia is now smaller than the Enclave (and Traverse).

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > Tristan 10/02/2018 at 20:23

6

GMCs have some of the highest profit margins for GM. Cant find a source immediately but I defintely read about it recently.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > bhtooefr 10/02/2018 at 20:25

0

That’s a sucky picture, but I’m guessing you mean the Enclave vs. Acadia?

They’re quite different.  Different enough to justify the “cheaper” Acadia existing.   https://www.asburyauto.com/compare/2018-buick-enclave-vs-2018-gmc-acadia/145528

SaabStutz > Tristan 10/02/2018 at 20:25

8

GMC exists because of the higher profit margins on basically the same products. That’s why the feds let GM keep it when they got restructured in bankruptcy back in 08.

not for canada - australian in disguise > bhtooefr 10/02/2018 at 20:28

6

Could be worse, you could’ve been a Pontiac-Buick-GMC-Asuna dealer in early 1990s Canada.

And god help you if you also sold Suzukis, Geos, or Chevrolets.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Textured Soy Protein 10/02/2018 at 20:31

1

i know an extra 2.4 inches is a lot, but here it just doesn t seem like anything to get... excited about.

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > bhtooefr 10/02/2018 at 20:37

2

Because of this fact. And no, this is absolutely not made up. This is MY Buick/GMC dealership.

Yes, I have confirmed these prices are 100% accurate. GMC is $116 /month. Buick with the same options is $369/month. Same money down. 24 months vs 36 months. Even at 36 months, the GMC is less than half the Buick.

Tristan > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time 10/02/2018 at 20:38

3

Makes sense... Zero R&D necessary, just slap some chrome and leather on an Equinox and tack 20% on the retail!

Textured Soy Protein > OPPOsaurus WRX 10/02/2018 at 20:39

0

Those are the Enclave and Traverse. Note that the Acadia (at the bottom)  is much smaller than both.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Textured Soy Protein 10/02/2018 at 20:42

1

your taking my comment way to seriously

Textured Soy Protein > OPPOsaurus WRX 10/02/2018 at 20:52

0

Apparently that was such a poor attempt at a dick joke that I instead mistook it for poor reading comprehension.

bhtooefr > Tristan 10/02/2018 at 20:55

1

Teeeeechnically the current Acadia is actually smaller than the Traverse/Enclave, so it isn’t a pure rebadge. But still.

The reason it exists is to give Buick dealerships a full line to sell , and because there are a significant amount of GMC buyers that are idiots and think that they’re not rebadged Chevrolets (and would switch to Ford instead of Chevrolet if GMC went away).

bhtooefr > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 10/02/2018 at 20:56

1

...it’s the same franchise, though, selling the Terrain and Acadia as the one selling the Envision and Enclave.

bhtooefr > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 10/02/2018 at 20:57

1

That a nd Terrain vs. Envision.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks 10/02/2018 at 21:11

1

That’s...a really great lease rate on the GMC. Damn. 

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > bhtooefr 10/02/2018 at 21:21

1

in the 20s and 30s the manufacturers wanted to expand quickley and created franchised dealers. As they became extablished in the 1950s Ford, GM, Chrysler and others started buying up dealerships. Remaining franchises joined up to prevent direct dealer sales.

Thus GM from the 70s to 00s was unable to close dealerships. For seperate dealerships, standalone GMC or Chevy, they want the full pr oduct lineup.  If it was up to them I think even more would have been closed.  https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a5635/gm-chrysler-dealership-battle/

E92M3 > bhtooefr 10/02/2018 at 21:40

7

Hasn’t that been GM’s business model for the last 4 0 years ?

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 10/02/2018 at 21:49

0

I know, right? I gotta make an appointment with my guy there to see if he can get me into heated seats near that. I got a feeling the answer is “YOU? Abso-frigging-loutely.”

bhtooefr > E92M3 10/02/2018 at 21:51

0

I mean, yes, although they generally tried to not sell the same car under multiple brands that are usually sold at the same dealers, AFAIK. (Hence GMC doing trucks, Buick doing cars... but crossovers make this confusing because GMC and Buick both do them.)

For Sweden > Tristan 10/02/2018 at 22:00

2

GMC is Buck for trucks

Hence the confusion of this Buick

Snuze: Needs another Swede > bhtooefr 10/02/2018 at 22:51

0

To be fair my wife and I bought a Terrain Denali and absolutely love it.

As for why GM sells 3-4 versions of the same car. I dunno. It made sense years ago - GMC was trucks/commercial, Chevy was entry level, Olds was mid-grade, Cadillac was high end luxury, Pontiac was performance, and Buick was basically a luxury P ontiac.  But you're right, these days there a huge overlap in trims, i.e. our Terrain Denali is basically the Buick, and you can get a Chevy Equinox LTZ appointed just as nicely, so it literally is 3 of the same thing.  

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > bhtooefr 10/02/2018 at 22:56

2

They're so bland I cannot tell the difference. And the fact that the Sierra Denali shares similar headlights with the... [Scrolls up to top of page]... uhh Terrain? is kind of a poor move.

Racin'Jason001 > bhtooefr 10/02/2018 at 23:10

0

More variety appeals to more people, and creates more revenue, to put it shortly.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > not for canada - australian in disguise 10/03/2018 at 00:19

3

That has to be the laziest Pontiac rebadge in the History of Pontiac rebadged. And that’s a relatively   comprehensive history.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Tristan 10/03/2018 at 00:24

0

Believe it or not GMC as a brand goes trick people into thinking it means something. I know a guy who said he would never buy a Chevy, who bought an Acadia to replace his Camry. Because as he put it “ GMC Is a premium brand with higher quality control than chev y.”

boxrocket > bhtooefr 10/03/2018 at 06:40

0

These plus the shape of the new sierra makes me curious just how badly they’re going to screw up the design of the next yukons. It’s like the design committee finally discovered complex curves, and as a result have thrown out their rulers and protractors and tried to integrate goofy swoops wherever they can, even if it doesn’t make sense.

The acadia’s (I had to look it up to be sure, it’s so forgettable which one is which now) headlamps are a great example: It looks like a goat (because of the headlight shape) bumped its nose into a pane of glass, and is beginning to wince in pain. The rest of the design looks phoned in from the catalog of “generic modern gm large vehicle design”, but the rear-most side window an afterthought to change things up a smidge (for the worse).

The terrain’s design looks better overall. The cheap ones look absurdly cheap though compared to the original, to the point where it seems gm is trying to embarass and shame any purchaser who didn’t go for at least an SLT. The humor of the trim level being one U away from a term for someone who sells themselves is not lose and seems almost deliberate, as it has since they’ve been using that, but then the next-highest trim is Denial, I mean Denali, which is perhaps more humorous. That said, the terrain still looks like it’s trying to be a Ford with a little Hyundai Santa Fe and Honda Pilot thrown in the mix, and somehow they grafted on the Bolt’s ridiculous rear-most side window treatment, which already looked bad when Nissan started doing it, and looks worse now that other brands are experimenting with their own (bad) “floating roof” designs. Tip to auto designers: if Jaguar - a maker renowned for making some truly handsome vehicles for decades admittedly with some notable missteps - can’t make the “floating roof” design work even on their flagship (XJ) and immediately abandons the idea and prevents it from spreading through the rest of their lineup, it’s probably a good idea to pass on it as well.

TL;DR: Why bother with these at all? As the OP indicated, these are superfluous. Buick’s designs look better and more upscale, and if you want more buyers for a brand, don’t dilute the brand by having two versions that reek of indecisiveness. If anything, perhaps it’s time to revisit the idea of axing Buick & GMC and use buick’s design language for the next cadillacs, since it’s easily the best-looking in gm’s lineup (though that’s not saying all that much).

boxrocket > bhtooefr 10/03/2018 at 06:41

0

Crossovers crossing over crosses over the staple products for each and dilutes both the brands . How amusing.

boxrocket > bhtooefr 10/03/2018 at 06:46

0

That reminds me (and I’m admittedly lazy enough to not look it up myself): Is the acadia the same size as the new blazer, then? IIRC the travesty and enclave are the same vehicle, and the terrain and xt4 share a lot with the envision but the envision is still it’s own weird made-in-China thing, which leaves the travesty without a direct GMC counterpart, and the Acadia without a direct Chevy counterpart, unless the blazer is its corporate twin/cousin, right?  

boxrocket > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 10/03/2018 at 06:48

1

Agreed. They didn’t even bother with giving it a unique grille!

boxrocket > Textured Soy Protein 10/03/2018 at 06:53

0

Looking at the hard points, I’m trying to figure out where and how the Buick is wider but the travesty is longer. Is the length maybe just in the bumper covers? Also, t first glance I was trying to figure out why the front of the malibu was in the chart, then remembered what the travesty looks like now since I’ve seen maybe one in-person (and I work next to a chevy dealer! I’ve seen more 2019 silverados - which are also ugly an d worse in-person- than I have travesties. I think?).

bhtooefr > boxrocket 10/03/2018 at 06:55

0

Traverse and Enclave are the same, Acadia is now a bit smaller and its closest counterpart is the XT5 (which is a bit smaller yet).

Envision is ever so slightly bigger than the Equinox/Terrain... and the XT4 is on a bigger platform (E2XX instead of D2XX) but is smaller than the Equinox/Terrain.

bhtooefr > boxrocket 10/03/2018 at 06:59

0

The problem, of course, with axing Buick, is China.

Chinese Buick sales depend on Buick existing in America.

...of course, it may well get to the point that the Chinese market replaces Buick with Tesla as the Designated American Prestige Brand, especially with their aggressive EV mandates, and GM being on the back foot here.

And then, the problem with axing GMC is the number of idiots that think a Sierra isn’t a Silverado, and have a hierarchy of Sierra > F-Series > Silverado > Ram mentally. Then again, maybe firing those customers wouldn’t be such a bad problem for GM. Alternately, offer a GMC Appearance Package for the Silverado, much like the Pontiac package that IIRC Holden sold for the Commodore in Australia, or the aftermarket kits to convert  G8s into Commodores or 5th-gen Camaros into Firebirds.

And if you axe one, you axe the other through the dealer network wanting both together to get a full line.

Textured Soy Protein > boxrocket 10/03/2018 at 10:04

0

The Traverse and Enclave have the same 67.3" track width so it’s probably the rounded styling of the Enclave adding to the width. Or it has bigger mirrors. 

The Traverse wheelbase is actually a little longer than the Enclave. It’s 120.9" vs. 118.9" for the Enclave, and 112.5" for the Acadia.

I believe the upcoming Chevy Blazer will be roughly similar in size to the Acadia.

boxrocket > bhtooefr 10/03/2018 at 12:46

0

You hit the nail on the head. GM /Buick has lost momentum in China (and Asia as a whole) , and in a combination of greater appeal/trendiness of other foreign brands , and MASSIVE improvement of the local wares from Chinese brands. 

boxrocket > bhtooefr 10/03/2018 at 12:48

0

That’s convoluted on a VAG or even media/ broadcasting company scale. I suppose kudos to gm for reducing their cookie cutter program, but that sounds nightmarish for parts commonality.

Tristan > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 10/03/2018 at 14:01

1

Wow... That goes right up there with the Pontiac Vibe owner who would never stoop to owning a Japanese car.

Then again, my wife still likes the Routan better than a Caravan because “Volkswagen”.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Tristan 10/03/2018 at 14:21

0

I could understand the Routan thing IF the interior is different but I don’t think it is. 

Tristan > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 10/03/2018 at 14:34

1

It is. They did a decent job of VWifying it, though you still get a Caravan dash and Uconnect (not a bad thing). It is an all around nicer-appearing thing.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Tristan 10/03/2018 at 14:37

0

I could see myself paying a little extra for a used one then. it looks better on the outside, is nicer inside, and yes i would rather be seen in a VW than a Dodge. 

Tristan > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 10/03/2018 at 14:42

0

The only thing the Dodge has over it is stow and go. VW designed more comfortable seats that were incompatible, so they never offered it. As I see it, it’s a VW with equal reliability that’s probably easier to work on and has cheaper parts. It’s high on the list of potential wife cars.