Buick
1973 great, Buick Biviera
Classic car: Buick Skylark Coup�
Buick Regal
1987 Buick Grand National
Buick HistoryBuick originated as an independent motor car manufacturer, the 'Buick Motor Company, incorporated on May 19, 1903 by Scottish-American David Dunbar Buick (who invented the overhead valve engine on which the company's success was based), Detroit , Michigan. Later that year, the struggling company was purchased by James H. Whiting (1842-1919), who moved it to his hometown of Flint, Michigan, and brought in William C. Durant in 1904 to manage its new acquisition. Buick sold his stock for a small sum upon departure, and died in modest circumstances twenty-five years later.
Durant after the acquisition of Buick soon became the largest car maker in America. Using the profits from this, Durant embarked on a series of corporate acquisitions, calling the new mega-corporation General Motors.
At first, manufacturers understand that General Motors competed against each other, that soon ended with Durant. He wanted to be a General Motors division to target one class of each purchaser, and in his new scheme Buick was near the top, only one was the Cadillac brand had more prestige.
In 1911, Buick introduced its first closed-body car, four years ahead of Ford. In 1929, Buick Motor Division launched the Marquette sister brand, designed to bridge the price gap between Buick and Oldsmobile, however , Marquette was discontinued in 1930.
Today Buick retains that position in the GM lineup. The target of the Buick was a client who wanted a comfortable car, but possibly not quite rich enough to afford a Cadillac or not desiring the ostentation of one, and I wanted a car on the market definitely above the norm. Buick is one of the oldest brands in the world, as the Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Peugeot, Cadillac, Daimler and the discontinued Oldsmobile.
Speculation existed, however, as to whether GM will eliminate the Buick brand to cut costs. This followed the temporary suspension of GM's planned Zeta project to develop new rear wheel drive cars fitting the Buick market niche . GM also has started consolidating of Buick, Pontiac and GMC trucks into a single dealer franchises, which makes it simple to eliminate the Buick brand without leaving dealers devoid of product. However, with the development of the Zeta platform still ongoing (including the development of the 2006 VE Commodore and Chevrolet Camaro), it may be likely that Buick will survive still.
Buick began consolidating its lineup in 2005, replacing the Century and Regal with the LaCrosse (known as the Buick Allure in Canada), and the LeSabre and Park Avenue with the Lucerne in 2006. Both of its SUVs, the Rendezvous and Rainier were discontinued in 2007 to make way for the new 2008 Enclave, while the slow-selling Terraza minivan also was abandoned in 2008. That leaves the marque with just three models in the United States. There have been rumors about Edmund'seMotor Trend Buick will have a roadster sedan in 2010, which could mean that the marque survive beyond May 2009.
There is speculation that future Buick models will have interior and exterior designs with an increasing influence of China Buick. This is due to the overwhelming success of the Buick and a high reputation in China. Motor Authority has also written that it will introduce the Buick Excelle Buick in the United States in 2008.
More recently, Buick was the brand that was selling the Lucerne, LaCrosse, and Rendezvous, none of which could get anyone excited. Now, however, Buick intends to keep surprising people with its new direction and image. The latest decision from the golden oldie? They're going to build the Regal GS (can I get a collective high five?).
And while many (yours truly included) may support that an Astra-based sports coupe sounds like a more reasonable and lucrative proposal for Opel, Car Magazine has returned with an update on the Calibra II / GTC Concept story.
