Here in the Tampa Bay area, Scott Buick is closing its doors. Apparently, General Motors has decided to consolidate the Buick-Pontiac-GMC brands under one roof. So the exclusively Buick franchise is being moved to the nearest Pontiac dealer location.

Anybody notice similar changes in your location?

 

i don't even know where the nearest buick dealer is. for that matter, i don't even know where the nearest pontiac or GMC dealers are either...

 

Your standalone Buick dealer Ben A. Begier Buick in San Leandro CA is probably due for some changes.

 

I'm just curious, so do they buy out the owner? If the dealership only does Buick, and has to consolidate with the nearest Pontiac/GMC dealership that is probably owned by another person. Wouldn't that create a mess?

 

I thought Buick was dead last year?

 

Those dealers own the franchise, so when GM kills brands, people sue for lost revenue opportunity. When they consolidate, I have to imagine the the Buick dealer is getting a nice pay-off... Now, kill Hummer and Saturn and you're really cooking with gas.

 

I looked at a Torrent a couple weeks ago and the lot was so packed full of cars, you had to call ahead for a test drive because they might have to shuffle 50 cars around to get outh the one you wanted. There were no isles, just a packed lot of solid cars. I asked the salesman what the deal was and he told me they were taking on Buicks and were required to take 100 Buicks as part of the deal by GM.

He was not sure whether they would start keeping less inventory of other vehicles, or find a spot to build an auxilary lot because they were land locked. Outside of the Buicks they had WAYYYYYYYYYY to many of the full size GMC suvs. I had seen that at a couple Pontiac lots I was at. I think they thought the hot initial sales would continue forever but one lot had at least 60 sitting there. That would be fine if they were the only game in town but we have about 20 GMC/CHevy dealers all doing the same thing.

I worked for a Dodge dealer in high school that over ordered once. Then the economy went south. Since the cars held on dealer lots are usually financed and they need to pay interest on inventory the dealer went belly up. Chrysler had to buy back the dealership and hunt for a new owner.

 

I roll around all the dealerships in my area for fun when I am bored, looking at all kinds of cars since I am a car nut (but never going in to the showroom..waste of time). You would be shocked at how long some of these cars sit.

There is a Pontiac dealership that has the same GTOs sitting in the lot for the past 6 months. A few weeks ago while checking them out again, because I was looking for a new car this time, I got a salesman. I asked straight out, I have seen this car here for a while, what do you say we lop about 4k off the sticker and we can do the paperwork (this was not uncommon for GTOs....just check LS1tech or LSx.com for GTO deals) and the sales guy said to me that there are no deals since this is the last year you can get them....ROFL. My reply to him was...its the last year of the GTO because no one is buying them. I told him have a nice day and left. A big problem with GM is not only their cars, but also their dealerships. You swear its 1978 in the way some of them operate.

 

Come to think of it, Ive never seen a buick dealer in my area.

 

There are several standalone Buick dealerships in your area (Bellmore, Rockville, Brooklyn, Jamaica) that will have to be combined.