Posted on 12/21/2023 9:00:02 AM PST by Red Badger
GM bought out about half of its 2,000 Buick dealers over the last year as part of the voluntary buyout program
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General Motors bought out roughly half of Buick dealers across the U.S. due to their reluctance to sell electric vehicles as the automaker looks to transition to EVs.
About half of GM’s 2,000 Buick dealers accepted the voluntary buyout. The program remains open so additional dealers may opt to take the buyout instead of making the EV-related investments that GM required for them to continue selling Buicks, as GM is planning for the brand’s vehicles to be 100% electric by 2030.
A spokesperson for the company told FOX Business in a statement, "Buick is transforming, launching the best vehicles the brand has ever had and is the fastest growing mainstream brand in 2023. This all needs to be supported by the best customer experience in the transition to EVs."
"As stated before, this year we’ve given dealers who are not aligned with Buick’s future to exit voluntarily in a respectful and structured way; with the full support of our National Dealer Council," the statement continued.
Last year, GM began planning to offer buyouts to its network of Buick dealers after it told the dealers to invest at least $300,000 to facilitate the selling and servicing of electric vehicles – including initiatives like the installation of EV chargers and training of staff – or give up the Buick franchise, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxbusiness.com ...
They were smart to take the buyout. The ones who didn’t will be bankrupt before long.
-Ronald Reagan
In the American auto manufacturing industry it appears we are in the "Subsidizing" phase.
And THIS is an example of why the Soviet Model/Fascist Mode of Economies (as practiced by our current government in cahoots with the auto manufacturers) will always, Always, ALWAYS fail.
Always.
The auto manufacturers have no idea of what is going on an a showroom in some dealer in Montana, and the government has even less.
So, 3000 miles away, they make decisions (sell only electric vehicles) and they all fail.
If they had bothered to ask, they would have been told “The Dogs don’t like the Dogfood.”
But they don’t ask.
Article: “invest at least $300,000 to facilitate the selling and servicing of electric vehicles”
You can become a millionaire owning a dealership selling GM electric vehicles.....but you need to start with two million dollars.
Variation on old joke—lol.
“The Dogs don’t like the Dogfood.”
The government solution is to kick the dog until it eats.
And exactly what is Buick’s future vision? Surprised they are still in business.
I heard they are having a sweepstakes contest and the first prize is a new Chevrolet Volt.
Second prize is TWO Chevrolet Volts!................
Nor do they even care what the customers want and the dealers can sell!
Car dealers are very good at number crunching.
Starve the dog, and if it croaks, replace it with another dog, at taxpayer expense, of course!
How is this even legal? What happened to fiduciary responsibility?
They don’t ask, because they don’t want to know.
In the Soviet system, your business had quotas to produce. If you made your quotas, you were rewarded. Then you had to warehouse the unneeded items you produced and started producing even more.
With working capital loans from banks now at 6%-7%, who wants to sit on unsold cars, especially ones that consumers have already indicated they will not buy?
The plan
In the Beginning was the plan.
And then came the assumptions.
And the assumptions were without form.
And the plan was completely without substance.
And the darkness was upon the face of the workers.
And they spoke among themselves saying:
“It is a crock of shit, and it stinketh.”
And the workers went unto their supervisors, and sayeth:
“It is a pail of dung, and none can abide the odor thereof.”
And the supervisors went unto their managers and sayeth unto them,
“It is a container of excrement, and it is very strong, such that none can abide it.”
And the managers went unto the directors and sayeth,
“It is a vessel of fertilizer, and none can abide its strength.”
And the directors spoke amongst themselves, saying one to another:
“It contains that which aids plant growth, and is very strong.”
And the directors went unto the vice presidents and sayeth to them,
“It promotes growth, and is very powerful.”
And the vice presidents went unto the president, and sayeth unto him,
“This new plan will actively promote growth and efficiency of this company, and certain areas in particular.”
And the president looked upon the plan, and saw that it was good.
And the plan became policy.
And this is how shit happens.
Wealthy elites buy and drive Teslas to virtue signal. Only fools buy GM and Ford EVs.
It’s part of their contract................
I served a 15 year sentence with a first tier supplier to GM in the ‘90s and ‘00s.
GM deserves to die. Not only for the greedy, hateful UAW. GM’s middle management was the most dishonest bunch of [redacted] that I ever dealt with in my entire career. I won’t say I’ll cheer, because there were some good engineers there who strove mightily to put out good product in spite of the handicaps. But on the whole it should be sold for scrap.
/rant
Best selling Buick model in the US is the subcompact Encore GX. Other new Buick models are irrelevant. Buick brand has only survived this long because it has been a favorite in China.
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