Buick plans to exclusively sell electric vehicles by 2030 and as part of this overhaul, dealers will be required to make investments in charging stations and various store upgrades. While it is unclear how much Buick dealerships will need to invest,The Wall Street Journal
, Global Buick chief Duncan Aldred said that dealers who accept a buyout will no longer be able to sell vehicles from the brand. However, most won’t need to shut up shop since almost all Buick dealers also sell other GM-branded models, in particular those from GMC. Moving forward, these dealers simply wouldn’t stock Buick models.“Not everyone necessarily wants to make that journey, depending on where they’re located or the level of expenditure that the transition will demand,” Aldred said.
The carmaker’s EV transition could also prove particularly important for its future in the Chinese market where it sells more than four times the number of vehicles that it does in the United States.