GM driving about half of its Buick dealers
out of business with demand for upfront
cash investment to handle electric vehicles
American Thinker,
by
Thomas Lifson
Original Article
Posted By: Magnante,
12/23/2023 9:57:11 AM
The decline and fall of General Motors, which sees it heading toward liquidation from its status as arguably the most powerful corporation on earth more than half a century ago, is entering a new phase. The federal government's mandated conversion to electric vehicles is taking another big bite out of its organization. Ron Glon writes:
In 2022, General Motors gave Buick dealers across the nation a simple choice: invest a significant amount of money to prepare for EVs or opt for a buyout. Over a year later, the brand has reportedly lost nearly half of its dealerships
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Reply 1 - Posted by:
franq 12/23/2023 10:35:31 AM (No. 1622940)
Hear those jackboots in the distance?
22 people like this.
Did Congress ever vote on the mandate of electric vehicles and the end of IC vehicles?
26 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Ida Lou Pino 12/23/2023 10:50:13 AM (No. 1622946)
Don't worry about the automobile industry.
They'll do booming business - - once the windmill cars come on the market.
18 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
MattMusson1 12/23/2023 10:50:22 AM (No. 1622947)
EVs will replace ICEs right after wine coolers replace Beer.
21 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
skacmar 12/23/2023 11:08:51 AM (No. 1622957)
Take a struggling brand and make it even more difficult for consumers to find a dealer and vehicles less desirable. Great plan GM. Is Buick the next brand to go the way of Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Saturn?
25 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
LC Chihuahua 12/23/2023 11:10:38 AM (No. 1622959)
Any car dealers out there? Dumb question: Do car dealerships have to purchase the cars on their lot from the manufacturer up front? Now they being told to purchase cars they cannot sell? That's not going to work. Amazing to watch corporate mismanagement in action. It's quite the destructive force. First, it shows no regard for the customer and they lose their customer base. Second, it cost their employees their jobs. Eventually, it kills the business itself. Ironically, the people that did all this get rich in the process.
18 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Krause 12/23/2023 11:13:09 AM (No. 1622963)
Two bit politician know-it-alls telling professional businessmen how to run their businesses, by forcing pie-in-the-sky products in them.
16 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
DVC 12/23/2023 11:41:37 AM (No. 1622974)
Government Motors.... bought out under The Zero and still doing the govenment's bidding, including killing itself on command.
24 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
DVC 12/23/2023 11:43:22 AM (No. 1622976)
The winners are the dealers smart enough to take the buy out. The suckers are the fools who spend huge amounts to get into a business that is doomed to failure.
19 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Bur Oak 12/23/2023 11:48:05 AM (No. 1622982)
US carmakers are committing corporate suicide via electric vehicles.
19 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
wilarrbie 12/23/2023 11:52:55 AM (No. 1622984)
Look for the union label.
11 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Mizz Fixxit 12/23/2023 11:57:55 AM (No. 1622986)
Automobile kill switches mandated in 2026. My plan, buy a gas burner in 2025.
13 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
john56 12/23/2023 12:07:04 PM (No. 1623002)
I guess that's why our local Buick dealer sold out. Family owned for 60 years plus.
12 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
Harlowe 12/23/2023 12:08:42 PM (No. 1623008)
Don’t know the basis for Buick’s decision to stop manufacturing sedans several years ago in favor of SUVs, but that decision resulted in decades-long Buick sedan customers being deprived of purchasing new or used sedans, as well as imposing hardships on sales personnel for lack of sedans by customers seeking such purchases. Buick still manufactures sedans for the Chinese market, but not for the States. It would be interesting to learn the “rationale” behind the decision to discontinue manufacturing sedans for sale in the States but suspect the answer to be monetary.
9 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
mc squared 12/23/2023 12:22:01 PM (No. 1623017)
As a car guy I don't want to see the demise of any brand but GM dropped Olds and Pontiac in favor of Buick when commanded by Obama. Here in E Central Florida I see more Edsels than new Buicks.
BTW: China’s Buick models are currently selling include LaCrosse, GL8, Regal, Excelle, Excelle XT, Excelle GT Verano, Enclave, and Encore.
https://wherearemade.com/where-are-buicks-made/
9 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
DVC 12/23/2023 12:24:24 PM (No. 1623024)
Re #14, the very, very complex equation (literally, the government wrote an equation) which controls the gas mileage number that a particular vehicle must attain to be sold without a huge cost penalty per vehicle works out that an SUV gets a more lenient treatment than a sedan. This has nearly killed the sedan in the USA, with few available, the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry and a Subaru sedans making up a huge fraction of all sedan sales.
I much prefer a sedan for daily driving, too. We have a real SUV, a very capable 4Runner for trips to the backwoods where snow, mud and rough roads are expected. Many people can only have one vehicle.
If you have older vehicles, my pickup is 20 years old and my SUV is 17 years old, you can afford to have multiple vehicles. But, it helps a lot to be able to maintain them yourself, too. I estimate that I have saved well above $150,000 in auto service and repair costs over my lifetime by doing 99% of them myself. And my repairman never rips me off.
14 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
mythman 12/23/2023 1:08:01 PM (No. 1623052)
Nothing like having your EV towed to a surviving dealership 50 or more miles from your house, then getting no loaner vehicle while they take 3 months to repair your vehicle if they do it at all, then having to get a ride to that dealership when your EV is supposedly repaired.
6 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
Dreadnought 12/23/2023 1:29:15 PM (No. 1623060)
Buick survives as a brand because it remains popular in China; otherwise, it would have gone the way of Pontiac and Oldsmobile. The brand was hugely popular in Saudi Arabia in the early 80s. The Buick dealers make their money on the GMC brand that many also market.
6 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
Mizz Fixxit 12/23/2023 2:03:46 PM (No. 1623081)
I drove a 2005 Buick LeSabre for 170,000 miles. Mechanically, the car was very good, but needed $3,200 in suspension repairs. I considered not trading it. Comfortable, full size sedan. Over 30 MPG on highway.
7 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
JHHolliday 12/23/2023 2:31:52 PM (No. 1623097)
They will have to pry my 2002 Toyota Camry and my 2016 Sienna van from my cold, dead hands...
4 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
franq 12/23/2023 2:41:38 PM (No. 1623098)
Kindred spirit with #16.
5 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
Tennman 12/23/2023 3:35:18 PM (No. 1623115)
GM doing their very best to self destruct. Unfortunately Buick's days were numbered anyway. Demographics - average buyer's in late 60's or early 70's. Not a target market for EV's.
6 people like this.
Reply 23 - Posted by:
JimBob 12/23/2023 10:05:55 PM (No. 1623283)
I have NEVER heard said, or seen it written, that GM's Board of Directors were very smart.
They have decided to kill the Camaro (this is the last year of production) and now they are killing Buick.
3 people like this.
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EVs may kill he US auto industry, and if you don't see the plan behind that, you aren't looking hard enough.