Buick Will Buy Out Any Of Its Dealers Unwilling To Sell EVs

Old legacy dealerships might be in for quite the shock.

GM has nearly Buick 2,000 dealerships in the US, and yet it appears not everyone is on board for GM’s electrified future. In a memo to dealers, GM is offering to buy out any dealership unwilling to make the upgrades necessary to sell EVs. Buick wants to become an EV-only brand by 2030.

In order to sell EVs, many dealerships would need to make substantial upgrades in service, like charging stations, or technician training for electric vehicles. Not every dealer is on board, though. “Not everyone necessarily wants to make the journey, depending on where they’re located or the level of expenditure that the transition will demand,” said Buick Global chief, Duncan Aldred, to the Wall Street Journal. “So if they want to exit the Buick franchise, then we will give them monetary assistance to do so,” he continued.

The shift to electrification has seemingly brought with it, a fundamental change in how dealerships do business. Popularized by Tesla, the Direct-To-Consumer model is speculated to be Buick’s future, for some. We aren’t sure if that’s necessarily the case here. Currently, Buick has no full EVs here in the US, but the onslaught of GM Ultium platform products should reach the Buick brand by 2024. Also, GM didn’t say how many dealers were unwilling to roll with the transition to EVs. In an era of high dealer markups and a bullish car market that favors the seller, some dealerships might be more willing than you’d think to make the switch.

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