Recently, a "Buick North America bid change" news, has attracted widespread attention from the industry and the media. Automotive observers have noted that GM's Buick brand has recently applied for a new style of brand LOGO at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Buick new and old LOGO comparison
From the comparison of the above figure, it is not difficult to see that Buick's new LOGO is summarized by "more concise, more stylish, and more flat", which is the most appropriate.
Although the importance of the LOGO to the car brand is self-evident, the brand LOGO is not achieved overnight, once and for all. It is not uncommon for automobile companies to change their brands, especially when they are in a critical stage of development. For example, The German luxury brands BMW and Audi have also experienced many LOGO changes.
So, Buick, as the absolute main force of GM, an automobile brand with a century of accumulation and deep ploughing in the Chinese market for more than 20 years, what signal is released by this bid change?
What is the status quo of the Buick brand before the bid change in China?
As one of the brands that have been deeply involved in the Chinese auto market for the longest time, Buick's model genealogy covers the whole range, the classification is meticulous, and it is also the best among the mainstream joint venture brands. Looking back at the sales of these products in 2021, Buick launched 13 new and redesigned models, with wholesale sales of 828,627 units throughout the year, accounting for 60% of mid-to-high-end model sales.
Screenshot of the car series on Buick's official website
Among them, the large luxury MPV Buick GL8 increased by 8.4% year-on-year, with annual sales exceeding 170,000 units, setting a new annual sales record, and the historical cumulative sales volume has exceeded 1.5 million. It can also be seen from the Buick GL8 flagship concept car unveiled at last year's Guangzhou Auto Show that this concept car is a preview of Buick's new MPV forward-looking design and leading technology, and predicts that the Buick brand will continue to open up a new market segment of higher-end and more luxurious MPV.
Buick GL8 flagship concept car
In the sedan camp, the Buick Veyron Pro and Veyron Pro GS equipped with 1.5T Avatar four-cylinder engines have seen rapid sales growth; in another major market segment, the Sales Structure of the Buick SUV family has been further optimized, and the sales of the flagship model Encore Banner in 2021 have increased by 47.2% year-on-year.
The above data is enough to show that in the context of "brand upwards", the sales structure and sales quality of the Buick brand have been further optimized through the whole year of last year. At least among the mainstream joint venture brands, the "sense of premium" of the Buick brand has been gradually recognized by the market and consumers.
Buick Encore Flag
From a technical point of view, looking at the technical layout of the Buick brand over the years, it has not only achieved the continuous launch of two lines of traditional power efficiency improvement and new energy models, but also leads the industry in the introduction, iteration speed and popularity of intelligent networking, and the penetration of intelligent driving assistance in its models is also one of the deepest brands in the industry.
GL8's ILC driver command lane change function
While many joint venture brands are still using the "basic operations" of CarPlay and large screen as the selling point of model promotion, Buick has opened a large-scale OTA cloud upgrade service for its models as early as last year, and fully completed the layout of the vehicle connection system from car to cloud. Even in January this year, the ILC driver command lane change function has been added to some Buick GL8 models, which is the first time that GM's models have remotely upgraded the driving assistance system through OTA, and the upgraded intelligent driving capability has also made the Buick GL8 position in the mid-to-high-end MPV market more consolidated.
New LOGO, Buick brand will usher in a new layout?
In the above two parts, the car observers focused on the "present" of the Buick brand from the aspects of product and technology. Then from the perspective of the flat design of the new LOGO in North America, we can see more of the Buick brand under the wave of new energy, for its own "future" layout.
The three shields of the new LOGO open in parallel, removing the outer circle. Automotive observers believe that the three shields that break out of the circle will indicate that the Buick brand will further complete the development layout of high-end and electrification under the wave of new energy.
Buick micro blue 6 plug-in hybrid
From the gradual promotion of the Buick brand in new energy models, it can be seen that the Buick brand has launched the first extended-range hybrid Vehicle Buick VELITE 5 in the domestic market a few years ago, and then successively launched the pure electric model Buick micro blue, Buick micro blue 6 plug-in hybrid vehicle and micro blue 7 pure electric SUV model. This kind of brand completely covers plug-in hybrid, pure electric drive, extended range hybrid diversified new energy technology spectrum, which is quite rare in China. This diversification and flexibility allow Buick to have a strong professional and technical support at the beginning of entering the new energy era.
Universal Aotene platform
Today, the Buick brand has the empowerment of the GM Aoteneng platform, which is a platform based on GM's 26 years of experience in electrification technology to produce safer, smarter, more performance, more environmentally friendly and profitable pure electric vehicle products.
Buick Electro Concept car
The Buick Electro Concept car released last year has depicted the evolution of the Buick brand under GM's new Aotene platform. At the Guangzhou Auto Show last year, Buick announced that it would accelerate the introduction of Aoteneng platform models, launch 5 new electric vehicles, and is expected to meet consumers this year. Automotive observers believe that these upcoming Mass-produced Buick Aoteneng platform models will most likely be equipped with new standards. At the same time, we also believe that in the future, after GM's comprehensive iteration to the new generation of Ultium electric vehicle platform, diversity, versatility and extreme flexibility will still be maximized by the Buick brand.
Write at the end:
How many joint venture brands are still immersed in the credit book of the past many years? See if their products have remained unchanged for years, and see if their core technology is still at the forefront of the times, and the answer is clear.
Sitting on the century-old general technology precipitation, and with more than 20 years of market accumulation in the Chinese market, for the Buick brand, "creating contemporary cars with contemporary spirit" is not just a slogan. The update of the LOGO is a signal that Buick will embrace change, take the initiative to change, accelerate transformation, and open up a new pattern of brand development with a new image, and it is also a preview of the brand's development towards high-end and electrification, and Buick's future performance is worthy of market and consumer expectations. Centennial Buick, about to be revitalized!