Buick

Buick is a marque of automobile sold in the United States, Canada, China, Taiwan, and Israel by General Motors Corporation. The name is pronounced /ˈbjuːɪk/. more...

Home
ATV Parts
Apparel & Merchandise
Automotive Tools
Aviation Parts
Boats Parts
Car & Truck Parts
Car Audio, Video
Manuals & Literature
Aviation
Boats & Watercraft
Car & Truck
Acura
Alfa Romeo
Audi
BMW
Buick
Cadillac
Chevrolet
Camaro
Corvette
Other Models
Trucks
Chrysler
Dodge
Ferrari
Fiat
Ford
Mustang
Other Models
Trucks
GMC
Honda
Infiniti
Jaguar
Jeep
Land Rover
Lexus
Lincoln
Mazda
Mercedes
Mercury
Nissan
Oldsmobile
Other Makes
Plymouth
Pontiac
Porsche
Saab
Subaru
Toyota
Volvo
VW
Motorcycle & ATV
Other
Motorcycle Parts
Other
Other Vehicle Parts
Personal Watercraft Parts
Racing Parts
Services & Installation
Snowmobile Parts
Vintage Car & Truck Parts
Wholesale Lots

Since the demise of Oldsmobile in 2004, it is GM's only U.S.-based entry-level luxury brand.

History

Buick originated as an independent motor car manufacturer, the Buick Motor Company, incorporated on May 19, 1903 by the Scottish-American David Dunbar Buick (who invented the overhead valve engine on which the company's success was based) in Detroit, Michigan. Later that year, the struggling company was taken over 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 his new acquisition. Buick sold his stock for a small sum upon departure, and died in modest circumstances twenty-five years later.

Durant was a natural, and 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, the manufacturers comprising General Motors competed against each other, but Durant ended that. He wanted each General Motors division to target one class of buyer, and in his new scheme Buick was near the top—only 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 ideal Buick customer was comfortably off, possibly not quite rich enough to afford a Cadillac or not desiring the ostentation of one, but definitely in the market for a car above the norm. Buick is one of the oldest marques in the world, with 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 single dealer franchises, which would make 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 the new Chevrolet Camaro), it may be likely that Buick will survive still.

Read more at Wikipedia.org