Seeking Street Cred: Buick wants to woo African-American buyers 

By Kathy Jackson
Automotive News
(November 11, 2006) If more blacks start driving Buicks it could help the brand overcome its biggest problem: the perception that it is a boring, old person's car.

That's the view of Steve Shannon, Buick's general manager. He says blacks are the most loyal Buick customers and he wants more of them.

Not only do blacks of all ages buy a lot of cars, he says that young blacks, particularly athletes and hip-hop artists, help define urban hipness.

"We already have quality and technical sophistication," Shannon said at the SEMA show here. "But perception is hard to hit at directly."

To raise its profile with blacks, Buick has chosen Atlanta, a city with a high percentage of black residents, for a new marketing program.

Shannon says the division and its dealers are spending at least $1 million on media directly targeted at black consumers, primarily featuring the Lucerne sedan.

The campaign includes traditional media such as newspaper, radio and billboards. Singer Isaac Hayes does the voiceover for the spots.

"We decided to use Isaac because, while older, he's still cool," Shannon says.

He says he also may showcase in Atlanta the 11 tricked-out Lucernes that aftermarket companies created for the SEMA show at no charge to Buick.

The SEMA Lucernes range from cars with retuned engines delivering more than 300 hp to low riders sitting on 20-inch wheels. Some have subwoofers pumping out 3,000 watts of power.

"I'm not sure how many athletes would buy these, but this is our attempt to see interest," Shannon said. "In the future we are looking at engine and interior changes." And he says "we'll never give up" our hopes for a coupe/convertible model.

The Lucerne debuted as a 2006 model. It comes in four trim levels, including the top-end model that is equipped with a Northstar V-8 making 275 hp.

While the Lucerne has about a 30 percent conquest rate, Shannon says that is not good enough. He did not know what percentage of all Buicks are bought by blacks.

"We've got to bring new people to the franchise," he says. "It makes sense to test this with African-Americans because we have a reservoir of goodwill with them - more so than Caucasians, Hispanics or Asians."

Shannon said the Atlanta campaign began about six weeks ago and may be expanded to other markets. 


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