Featured GM Buys out 50% of Buick Dealers for not investing in EV's

It makes sense for those dealerships to decline the investment, if you look at the demographics of their target audience. I still reminder when both Buick and Oldsmobile was up on the chopping block, because they both cater to the same demographics. Oldsmobile took the bold move of attempting to modernize with the Aurora, which failed miserably. That sealed Oldsmobile's fate; since the young-lings on this site probably never even heard of an Oldsmobile.

 

Ransom E. Olds is turning over in his grave.

 

most dealers, like most drivers, are not interested in ev's. it's too much work for a similar profit and less repair.
and gm themselves have cut back on their ev timeline, so it's understandable to some extent.
i suppose they can jump in down the road if gasser sales fall too far, but will gm be open to it? maybe they'll sell online like ford is talking about, or hyundai making a deal with amazon.

 

Yep; so it would've been more profitable for the dealerships to buy lottery tickets with that money. Those dealerships that held out won in the end, that payout from GM was probably better than trying to sell the business outright. I know Buick's aren't that popular out here on the west coast, but much more popular in the south east.
I was joking with my elderly neighbor a decade back. Buick sent him a coupon for some free golf balls; his wife said that was the most expensive set of golf balls he's ever brought home - in the trunk of a new Buick!!

 

when i reached the legal age, i bought an olds. not a bad car until my son hit a curb with it. i dropped a bundle trying to get it fixed, but they could never find the problem.
i think the tranny got damaged, but i wasn't paying for that exploratory surgery

 

I think he would be shocked that the company still existed. Olds was demoted then left oldsmobile over a century ago. He started REO motors (his initials) which was short lived but survives because the REO speed wagon (forerunner to the pick up truck) became a band. Oldsmobile was the first car company to use an assembly line.

 

Learned something new today. Heard of REO speed wagon (band) - did know it was the forerunner to the pickup truck.

I always thought Ford was the pioneer of the automotive assembly line.

 

Most dealers serve no purpose other than getting in the way between buyer and seller to increase prices... And in the same way Tesla has revolutionized auto manufacturing with the giga press to eliminate a massive number of parts to reduce costs, so too has Tesla revolutionized the industry by helping automakers realize they don't need all these parasitic dealerships and can eliminate them in ways that saves both them and the buyers a huge amount of money. Good riddance to stealerships! It will be the best thing that can possibly happen when it comes to restoring honesty and integrity in the auto repair sector.

 

First assembly line car was the curved dash Olds. Ford updated and modernized the assembly line.
Oldsmobile Curved Dash - Wikipedia

 

I'm curious to see which direction this goes. Will GM operate these companies as brand-owned dealerships? I don't think they can (legally) use them as direct sale storefronts.

I love the idea of brand-owned dealerships operating in competition with independently-owned dealers, especially where EV sales are concerned.

 

Gm needs to start a new division of ev’s to separate them from typical gm products and dealers.
I dreamt last night they called it Saturn.
Great name, I may write to them and recommend it.

 

I believe the real value here, was the exclusivity/territory rights GM was able to claw-back. Now they could open it up; if they don't decide to kill the Buick brand name all together to consolidate...

 

Saturn has been used...I highly recommend the new EV be named Uranus!

Oh no he didn't!!! (Yes, I hate EV's...huge waste of money and the climate change hysteria is 99% crap pushed by Marxists/Communists who just want to control people....that's why the like the Chicoms so much but, guess what, the Chicoms are the largest polluters on the planet yet the are never called out on it.)

 

LOL

 

Walmart eliminated the need for warehouses by just running massive numbers of trucks... Saves a huge amount of money. Likewise, the pandemic helped Carvana thrive with no physical locations and just meet up with people in parking lots or at your house, sometimes no human contact at all. And with remote work eliminating the need for most corporate real estate, the entire sector of giant offices / facilities that aren't building stuff, just providing services via workers is heading towards bankruptcy, which is the main motivation for forcing employees back to work. That's gonna fail.

 

GM also did this with Chevy and Caddy. Nothing new.

 

Like chastity, its own punishment. <GRINS>

As I was driving my Tesla home this afternoon, I realized we need to encourage our right-wing brethren to hate EVs and disparage Elon Musk. This will close Musks pocket book and keep him from wasting his money on their candidates.

Bob Wilson

 

i think the right wing loves musk. it's the left wing that hates him

 

But the right wing also hates EVs. There's going to be a conflict there eventually.