Buick Wipes Off its Murky Character

Buick is famed for its steadiness and simple elegance. It manufactures the kind of vehicle that your grandparents desire. Moreover, it is not in any way linked to the trendy vehicles running on the roads. The concept is – it is more of lineup for senior citizens. Nonetheless, the automaker intended to come out of its shell and reach out the hippy young urbanites. The initial step is to release 'customized' Lucernes to lure young drivers to enter the circle of trendy Buick fanatics.

The automaker customized 11 of its lavish Lucernes for the annual Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show, which was opened last Tuesday in Las Vegas. The design of customized Lucerne was inspired by MTV's "Pimp My Ride", a cool and hip concept that made a big hit in the youth sector.

"You look at the resurgence of V-8 powered full-size American cars, and ... you look at the Lucerne and you say, 'Why has this car been overlooked?'" says Larry Weiner of Performance West Group in Vista, Calif. Here's a car that makes an excellent blank canvas for personalization. You say to yourself, 'Wow, why didn't anybody look at one of these cars before?'"

Buick looks at SEMA Show as a great opportunity to showcase the hip version of Lucernes. The automaker is fully aware that the auto show is a rendezvous of car enthusiasts and customers. Hence, for the first time in its 43 years of existence Buick is entertaining a large exhibit using state-of-the-art customized Buick exterior accessories to prove that there is more to Buick than what is retained in the aficionado's subconscious.

"All we did was say, 'Let's add Lucerne to the list and see what happens. Maybe we will get calls or maybe we won't hear from anybody at all," said Steve Shannon, General Manager of Buick. "But to our pleasant surprise, we had 20 companies call us, from California to New York. They submitted proposals, and said, 'Here's what we would like to do with a Lucerne for the SEMA Show.' We then sat down as a team and picked 10 of them."

Shannon also noted that each custom company uncovered their sense of style. From the different wheel sizes, colors, turbochargers to doors, varying levels of customization have been made to strengthen Lucerne's appeal and performance.