The Allure replaces the Regal and Century this year, although a short-run of
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| My only real complaint about the new Buick: Why change the name from either Regal or Century? (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
2005 model year Centurys may still be available. And that brings about my only real complaint about the new Buick. Why change the name from either Regal or Century? OK, I can appreciate that in a quest to find new younger buyers a new name can signify a new car worth taking a look at, but there's a lot of heritage and brand equity in the old names. Take the Century, for instance. The first time Buick used it was in 1936, yes long before anyone in this country had ever heard of Toyota, Honda or any Japanese automaker. That model ran to 1942, with the next Century starting in '54 and running to 58. It took until 1973 to bring the name back, a model that ran an uninterrupted 32 years to this day, other than undergoing extensive revisions throughout its tenure. The Regal is a relatively new name in comparison, only 31 years old as of its last year of production in 2004.
Confusing matters was the need to rename the car for the Canadian market, from the U.S. name LaCrosse, which describes a
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| The new Allure is easily one of the best in its class, now only time will tell if it can win over import buyers. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press) |
self-fulfilling sexual act in Quebecois teenage slang. Personally I think the Allure name is much better than LaCrosse anyway, as it actually means something positive and flows nicely off the tongue. Other than Canada's national sport, what does LaCrosse mean to the average American? It's a religious symbol, for sure, which might play well to some, but to most it will just be another new name to learn, making sales more difficult than a name that's easier to recognize, like Century or Regal. Oh well, I can't knock the GM marketing people too much as they're some of the best in the business. They obviously know what they're doing, so I'll have to leave the art of repositioning a brand to them.
