General Motors has been giving Buick dealerships in the U.S. a simple choice to either invest in tooling and training pertaining to EVs or accept a buyout for more than a year. But the recent announcement by GM that the brand lost nearly half of its dealership.
According to an Automotive News report the number of Buick dealers in the United States dropped by about 47% during 2023. At the beginning of the year, the network included 1,958 stores; fast-forward to December and that figure stands at approximately 1,000. More dealers could throw in the towel in the coming weeks, as the publication adds that the buyout program remains open and will continue.
As the brand states that Buick is transforming, launching the best vehicles the brand has ever had and is the fastest growing mainstream brand in 2023. All this 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 Buicks future to exit voluntarily in a respectful and structured way; with the full support of our National Dealer Council.
GM spokesman Sean Poppit said that with nearly half the dealerships gone, Buick sales are still up almost 60% this year through November over the year-ago period, which means “the average dealer throughput tripled – while reducing 47% of our dealer points. These are compelling numbers; we have a leaner, stronger and more effective network.”
Automotive News also said, the dealers who chose to stop selling Buicks models accounted for about 20% of the brand’s sales in the United States. Further Buick said that around 89% of the American population still lives within 25 miles of one of its dealerships.
Duncan Aldred, Buick’s Boss said,”I’m really pleased with where we are. The network, where we are now, is a good size. It’s with dealers who are focused on the business, who’ve shown that they can recover the volume that the dealers who transitioned away were doing.”
