Buick is currently the oldest American automobile manufacturer, and among the oldest automobile brands in the world. It originated as the Buick Auto-Vim and Power Company in 1899, an independent internal combustion engine and motor-car manufacturer, and was later incorporated as the Buick Motor Company on May 19, 1903, by Scottish born David Dunbar Buick 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.
Between 1899 and 1902 two prototype vehicles were built in Detroit, Michigan by Walter Lorenzo Marr. Some documentation exists of the 1901 or 1902 prototype with tiller steering similar to the Oldsmobile Curved Dash.
In mid-1904 another prototype was constructed for an endurance run, which convinced James H. Whiting to authorize production of the first models offered to the public. The architecture of this prototype was the basis for the Model B.
The first Buick made for sale, the 1904 Model B, was built in Flint, Michigan. There were 37 Buicks made that year, none of which survived. There are, however, two replicas in existence: the 1904 endurance car, at the Buick Gallery & Research Center in Flint, and a Model B assembled by an enthusiast in California for the division's 100th anniversary. Both of these vehicles use various parts from Buicks of that early era, as well as fabricated parts. These vehicles were each constructed with the two known surviving 1904 engines.
The power-train and chassis architecture introduced on the Model B was continued through the 1909 Model F. The early success of Buick is attributed in part to the valve-in-head engine patented by Eugene Richard. The creation of General Motors is attributed in part to the success of Buick, so it can be said Marr and Richard's designs directly led to GM.
The basic design of the 1904 Buick was optimally engineered even by today's standards. The flat-twin engine is inherently balanced, with torque presented to the chassis in a longitudinal manner, actually cancelling front end lift, rather than producing undesirable lateral motion. The engine was mounted amidships, now considered the optimal location.
Durant was a natural promoter, 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. This is the position that Buick occupies to this day in the General Motors lineup. The ideal Buick customer is comfortably well off, possibly not quite rich enough to afford a Cadillac, nor desiring the ostentation of one, but definitely in the market for a car above the norm.
At first, Buick followed the likes of Napier in automobile racing, winning the first-ever race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
In 1911, Buick introduced its first closed-body car, four years ahead of Ford. In 1929, as part of General Motors' companion make program, Buick Motor Division launched the Marquette sister brand, designed to bridge the price gap between Buick and Oldsmobile; however, Marquette was discontinued in 1930. Buick scored another first in 1939, when it became the first[citation needed] company to introduce turn signals.
Overall sales of the Buick brand peaked in the 1984 model year, with the popular styling of the Buick Regal and Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, in combination with the popularity of newer, smaller offerings and performance oriented turbocharged models. Buick Regal Grand National was Buick's muscle car, the fastest production car at one time. Equipped with a 3.8L V-6 engine with a turbo charger, the FBI had a GN with twin turbo chargers. From 1986 to 1987, the 5.0 L 307 V-8 was available as an option on the Buick Regal.
The number of Buick models in the lineup fell over time, with the compact and performance segments being abandoned altogether. By the 2000s, Buick was a traditional luxury brand in the GM group, emphasizing comfort and safety, whereas Cadillac has focused more on cutting edge products that were performance oriented and avante-garde styled. The Buick LaCrosse, Regal GS and Enclave are slotted against the Lexus ES, IS, and RX, respectively, while Cadillac, with its CTS, is slated against luxury performance imports from European manufacturers such as Mercedes and BMW.
Buick introduced its first SUV in 2001, the Buick Rendezvous crossover, which provided the much-needed success for the marque, and single handedly brought a large number of younger, wealthier "conquest" buyers into Buick showrooms who otherwise wouldn't have considered purchasing a Buick. Certainly a major contributor to the Rendezvous's success was an aggressive value-pricing strategy that made the Rendezvous US$6,500 less than a comparably equipped Acura MDX and US$8,000 less than the Lexus RX300. The Rendezvous handily exceeded GM's predictions of 30,000 to 40,000 units a year by a large margin, which helped offset the poor sales of the Pontiac Aztek with which it shared its Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, assembly line. Commercials featuring Tiger Woods aired during the Buick Classic golf tournament. The truck-based Buick Rainier was added to the lineup in 2004.
Buick began consolidating its lineup in 2005, replacing the Century and Regal with the LaCrosse, and the LeSabre and Park Avenue with the Lucerne in 2006. Both of its SUVs, the unibody Rendezvous and truck-based Rainier were discontinued in 2007 to make way for the new and highly successful 2008 Enclave, while the slow-selling Terraza minivan was also dropped for 2008. This left the marque with just three models in the United States. In 2008, Buick sales slipped from an average of four cars per dealer per month to three, in addition to two trucks.
Since 2005, GM has gradually consolidated Pontiac and Oldsmobile dealers as Buick GMC dealerships in order to save on costs in a tougher economy. Through development of the Zeta platform still ongoing, and the cancellation of the Pontiac brand at the end of the 2010 model year, GM began to consolidate its line-up to focus heavily on rebuilding Buick with a succession of award winning vehicles. Following General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization and emergence in 2009, the company selected the Buick division to consolidate and provide a new line-up that would also excite its Oldsmobile and Pontiac customer base. Buick's success in China and its market niche in North America became significant reasons for Buick to reinvent itself in order to take on a larger role within General Motors.
In January 2009, Buick unveiled the new 2010 LaCrosse sedan, an all new styling direction. After its first year in production, the car has drawn praise from enthusiasts and critics, auto journalists and satisfied owners, significantly lowering the age demographic and broadening Buick's customer base. Another bright spot for Buick, especially when the car was compared to the similarly placed Lexus ES, the LaCrosse emerged the winner on nearly all counts. Meanwhile, sales of the luxury crossover Enclave have increased each year. The re-introduction of the Regal has reinforced Buick's image as an upscale competitor.
In the 2009 J.D. Power and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study, Buick tied with Jaguar as the most dependable brand in the United States. Additionally, as of this writing, demand has been strong and in 2010, Buick surprised analysts everywhere when it was revealed that Buick sales had grown 60.8% in 2010, making them the fastest growing automotive make by a wide margin.
At its extended product review in August 2009, GM announced Buick's future lineup. LaCrosse and Lucerne models will continue in production to cater to Buick's traditional upper medium price/entry-level luxury markets. The Regal has returned to strong demand and its GS version will be the first Buick in almost 20 years to be offered with a manual transmission and a TURBOcharger. Buick will also be offering a new compact sedan that will be assembled in China. With LaCrosse-based styling, it will be targeted against the Acura TSX and Volvo S60. In worldwide sales, Buick showed a huge resurgence during the months following the release of the new LaCrosse. Now although, Buick has hinted that the LuCerne will soon be discontinued. Also, there are two other concepts: the Buick Verano, a compact sedan; and the unnamed small crossover, expected in 2013-2014.
Currently, Buick's North American lineup consists of: the Regal entry-level luxury/sports sedan, the LaCrosse mid-size luxury sedan, Lucerne full-size luxury sedan, and Enclave full-size luxury crossover.
