Because of the exodus, General Motors (GM) is now ending the year with only around 1,000 Buick stores nationwide, a 47 percent drop from January, according to the Detroit Free Press (DFP). Combined with a lack of charging infrastructure and high costs of EVs, nearly 1,000 Buick dealers opting to quit rather than transition away from fossil fueled vehicles is yet another sign of the headwinds facing the shift to an all-electric future. Last December, in accordance with a goal to transition to 100 percent EVs by the year 2030, GM asked its Buick dealerships to invest a minimum of $300,000 - $400,000 to prep their stores to sell and service EVs. "Buick is transforming, launching the best vehicles the brand has ever had and is the fastest growing mainstream brand in 2023," GM spokesman Sean Poppitt told DFP this week. "This all 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 Buick’s future to exit voluntarily in a respectful and structured way; with the full support of our National Dealer Council." Poppitt would not confirm how many dealers accepted buyouts in Michigan, where the company was founded in 1908. "We’re not breaking it down state by state, but Michigan is a critical market for Buick and we are well covered to support our local customers," Poppitt said. "Nearly 90% of the U.S. population remains within approximately 25 miles of a Buick dealership." Though auto dealers who accepted the buyout can no longer sell Buicks, they are still able to sell cars from other brands within the GM family, including Chevrolet and GMC. Despite losing nearly have of its dealerships, Buick sales are still up nearly 60 percent this year through November, Poppitt said.Nearly half of Buick dealers opted to take a buyout this year rather than making hundreds of thousands of dollars in investments to add electric vehicle chargers and other tools needed to sell and service EVs.
