In at least one way, Buick’s decision to bring the Cascada to market, its first convertible in more than two decades, was a wise one. Along with the Encore SUV, it’s responsible for bringing new customers to Buick, which has already attracted more than 35,000 of them this year.
According to the manufacturer, “Through April, 64 percent of Cascada buyers traded in vehicles from outside Buick or any other General Motors brand.” Most of those “conquest” customers have come over from the Audi, Toyota, and Honda camps. Almost half of the Cascada’s sales are from New York, New Jersey, Florida, Texas, and California, which are some of the country’s biggest convertible markets.
I had a chance to drive a Cascada for a few minutes at the Texas Auto Writers Association’s recent Texas Auto Roundup in Fort Worth. In the garage area of the Texas Motor Speedway, I got an eyeful of its sculpted sides and gentle yet defined curves. The 200 horsepower from its 1.6-liter turbo four wasn’t exactly thrilling on the roads and the highway outside of the track, but it was the right amount for a car that’s meant for more leisurely driving. For a brand looking to change its image, releasing a vehicle that allows people to experience the wind in their hair and smell the ocean they might be driving toward in the distance is just what the (spin) doctor ordered.
I have yet to get behind the wheel of the Encore, but plenty of people have paid money to do just that. Nearly 60 percent of the people who have bought the small sport utility vehicle this year were previously customers of other brands. They and the Encore’s other buyers have given it a 40-percent piece of Buick sales.
As we speak, the Encore’s $34,990 bigger brother, the 2017 Envision, is arriving at Buick dealerships. The brand says it’ll “offer the longest available list of standard safety and a starting price $1,300 below the Acura RDX and $6,000 less than an Audi Q5.” Only time will tell if Acura and Audi customers will cross over to the Envision the way supporters of other brands have in order to put a Cascada or Encore in their driveways.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
