别克将买断经销商拒绝To Sell EVs

For the dealers, the expenses can be immense. According toWSJ, some dealers have reported that facility improvements aimed at supporting electric vehicles can cost in excess of $300,000. Of course, dealers could easily make the investment back with their scandalous markups, but GM has made efforts to encourage standardized pricing and is likely to pursue the imposition of penalties against offending dealers. That makes it a very difficult decision to justify, but there could still be some good to come from the investment for those who make the change. The most obvious benefit that Buick dealers will get is less competition, as some dealers have complained that there are too many Buick stores.

According to data from research outfitMotor Intelligence, Buick's US market share has held steady at 1.2% in recent times but has shrunk by nearly 50% since 2000. As a result, the brand has continually ranked near the bottom of industrywide sales-per-store statistics.

On the one hand, fewer dealers means less competition and fewer opportunities for buyers to haggle. But on the other, it allows Buick to retake control of its sales model and prevent those greedy brand-tarnishing dealers from applying such ridiculous markups. Fewer dealers would also make the brand seem more exclusive, and as it attempts to recapture its luxury status with a number of all-new vehicles that are sure to attract new buyers to the brand, that can only be a good thing.

The Cadillac buyout we mentioned from 2020 was completed last year and saw the brand's American dealer network shrink by approximately a third to around 575 franchises. GM said that this program cost it around $275 million, but now that it has only the most EV-friendly dealers remaining, the long-term benefits will surely outweigh the initial outlay. Perhaps the same will soon be said for Buick too.