Is this marketing madness, brand hubris, rejection of existing customers, or is Buick’s impending attempt to spin off Aviner as a “sub brand” for the 2018 model year smart business? Maybe all of the above. Details, not surprisingly, are scarce on what could simply be fully loaded vehicles with more chrome and different badges and floor mats. Actually it’s not “sub” (Buick’s description), but apparently intended to be priced above existing Buick models.
Avenir, French for “future,” is taken from an attractive concept sedan from 2015. That concept and this year’s Avista coupe concept — from which the new “sub-brand” borrows its grille pattern — have served as “guideposts for designers sketching and modeling Buick’s future.” (Are you asleep yet?)
“Through the first half of 2016, Buick has been the industry’s fastest-growing major international brand, and Avenir is key to future growth and delivering on the high expectations of new customers coming to our showrooms,” said Duncan Aldred, vice president of Global Buick Sales, Service and Marketing. “Avenir will be Buick’s signature. The highest expression of the luxury experiences we’re delivering now and in the future.”
Avenir vehicles will add “distinct” or is that clichéd touches, including a three-dimensional mesh grille, large-diameter wheels, and different trim finishes. Inside, Avenir models “will have unique seat details, modern trim materials and Avenir script identification.”
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
