Buick is a brand of automobile built in the United States and China by General Motors. Buicks are also sold in Canada and Israel.
Buick originated as an independent motor car manufacturer, the Buick Motor Company, incorporated on May 19, 1903 by David Dunbar Buick (who invented the overhead valve engine on which the company's success was based) in Flint, Michigan. In 1904 the struggling company was taken over by James Whiting, who brought in William C. Durant to manage his new acquisition. Buick himself unwisely sold his stock for a small sum at his departure, and died in very modest circumstances forty years later.
Durant was a natural, however, and Buick soon became the largest car maker in America. Using the profits from this, Durant embarked on a series of several dozen corporate acquisitions, calling his new mega-corporation General Motors.
At first, the different manufacturers who comprised General Motors competed against each other, but Durant put a stop to 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 luxurious Cadillac brand had more prestige.
In 1929, the marque launched the Marquette designed to help bridge the price gap between Buick and Oldsmobile, however the Marquette was discontinued in 1930.
Even 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 a cut above the norm.
Unlike some of GM's other brands, Buicks are not marketed globally, although in the early years of the marque Buick had a substantial export presence. In pre-World War II China, for example, one in five cars were Buicks.
Currently most Buick sales are restricted to the United States and Canada. One exception is Israel, where the Buick LeSabre and Buick Rendezvous are imported.
Since 1999, a Chinese version of the Buick Century / Regal has been produced and sold in China under Shanghai GM and has proven to be popular among upscale, professional families. In addition, Buick of China also sells the subcompact Sail, sourced from GM's Asian operations and based on the Opel Corsa B, the compact Excelle, based on the Daewoo Lacetti/Nubira, and a modified version of the Venture/Montana/Silhouette/Sintra minivan named the GL8. Buick has stated that it expects China to become its second largest market.
In December 2004, General Motors signed a memorandum of understanding with Yulon, a firm based in Taiwan, for the licensed manufacture of Buick vehicles there.
Buick models
- Buick Century - Midsize car (ending in 2005)
- Buick LaCrosse - Midsize car
- Buick LeSabre - Midsize car (replaced in 2006)
- Buick Lucerne - Fullsize car
- Buick Park Avenue - Fullsize car (ending in 2006)
- Buick Rainier - SUV
- Buick Rendezvous - Crossover SUV
- Buick Terraza - Minivan
- Buick Royaum - Fullsize car
Past
- Buick Apollo
- Buick Caballero
- Buick Centurion
- Buick Century
- Buick Eight
- Buick Electra (Includes Electra 225)
- Buick Estate
- Buick Grand National
- Buick Gran Sport
- Buick GSX
- Buick Invicta
- Buick Limited
- Buick Reatta
- Buick Regal
- Buick Riviera
- Buick Roadmaster
- Buick Skyhawk
- Buick Skylark
- Buick Somerset
- Buick Special
- Buick Sport Wagon
- Buick Super
- Buick Wildcat
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