Case Study Of Buick's Global Strategy

Throughout its history, Buick has had a series of regional strategies. Like the case explains, for decades Buick made cars for the U.S market and then exported them to countries such as Japan and Great Britain with the idea that what worked in the United States would apply successfully in a global market. In addition, Buick has taken cars designed by General Motors, such as the Opel Astra and Holden, meant for the European and Australian market, and labeled them as Buicks.

However, we should note that Buick attempted a global strategy when it chose PATAC to redesign the current Buick LaCrosse. Buick made a bold move when it chose a team of Non Americans to design a vehicle that “would sell in all of Buick’s market” instead of going with U.S

GM has had manufacturing facilities as well design centers throughout the world; however, this hasn’t been a global strategy because those facilities have been manufacturing similar cars for diverse markets but under different brands, such as the Opel and Holden. In addition, the PATAC center, at least in the LaCrosse example, focused mainly on targeting the regional market of Chinese buyers. Even though their design was introduced in the American market as well, their original target was the mid-30s, fashionable buyers of China.

3- Some of Buick’s early communications strategies in China included communication adaptation with advertisements that were targeted to the Chinese consumers such as “Buick owners are mostly the leading men in China”. However, the company case doesn’t mention more recent global communications strategies for Buick, so we can’t assume that they are still following the same tactic.

In product strategies, Buick is using a product adaptation, at least in the Chinese market. We can say that they changed the Buick LaCrosse to appeal to the demographic profile of Chinese consumers. However, they didn’t redesign it for the American market, thus also showing some traits of straight product extension. Buick also used the aforementioned strategy when they used to sell the same left-hand driven cars in right-hand driven countries. In conclusion, Buick is in between

They have dominated the Chinese market since the early 1900s, and as of 2011 they were the number one automaker in the country. They have brand familiarity and brand loyalty from their consumers. They are still seen as an elite brand with an impeccable image of luxury and glamor, which definitely attracts the status-conscious Chinese consumers. They are ahead of the competitors because they are in tune with their costumers wants and produce cars that are relevant and appeal to them. If Buick continues with the same strategy they should stay ahead of the game. However, they have to be aware of the threat of other companies trying to win over the Chinese market. If, in the future, one of Buick’s competitors is able to satisfy the needs of the Chinese consumers better than Buick, then the company could be in