Buick's plan: Sell luxury, not Tiger; Golf star will be less visible as the brand's spokesman.(News)(Brief article)

Byline: Leslie J. Allen

General Motors hopes that by no longer focusing its Buick ads on Tiger Woods it can refocus the public on what it considers Buick's chief selling points: luxury and quiet.

The automaker said Thursday, June 21, that future Buick ads will center on the vehicles themselves rather than the golf champion.

Woods will remain a GM pitchman and still will appear with Buick vehicles but in more general spots such as a new commercial for OnStar.

Mark LaNeve, GM North America's marketing chief, said the decision evolved from GM's effort to define the Buick product program more tightly. That effort has included eliminating the …