Live From the L.A. Auto Show: The Buick Enclave Reveal

To follow up our report on the great new designs by GM, we wanted to bring you the spin on the new Buick Enclave crossover vehicle. General Motors and Buick revealed their new 2008 Buick Enclave at a swanky little reception in Pasadena Tuesday night. The coolest part about the reveal? Tiger Woods drove the vehicle out onto the stage.

You heard us! Tiger drove the Enclave out onto the platform and he and Rick Wagoner, Chairman and CEO of GM, stepped out of the gorgeous brown vehicle to answer some questions. And guess who stepped up and asked a question? That’s right, Ask Patty. We asked him the question that Ask Patty continues to ask the automotive industry at all levels, “What are you doing to market this vehicle to women?” And what did the CEO of GM say? He gave the somewhat disappointing, generic, non answer.

The reason why this is so terribly troubling is that the Enclave practically does the marketing FOR them. This vehicle has so many touches to it that were made with a woman in mind. And we can say this with certainty because we met one of the co-designers… and it was a woman! She had her hands all over this crossover ute and it shows.

For example—and this is just such a great design element—she told us that she specifically designed the left foot rest to allow room for a heel. Now your foot can rest on that dead pedal in comfort with your heel slipping neatly into the provided pocket. Genius! And this baby seats eight. Eight. That is very carpool and family friendly. On top of all of that, the color of this vehicle was beautiful. It reminded us of a rich chocolate silk pillow. Breanne wants to pain her living room the same color now. It actually matched the svelte brown jacket Jody wore to the event!

So can you see what we mean? GM doesn’t have their work cut out for them with the product, but they do when it comes to their marketing plan. All that aside, we met with some lovely blogger women from the Silicon Valley Mom Blog and Mommies With Style. We shared a great Italian dinner with people from all over blogland, including Automotive.com, PSFK and The McGinn Group.  We talked about marketing  to women strategies over yummy ravioli and spaghetti.

Stay tuned for more updates as we travel through the L.A. Auto Show!