Buick Brand Being Sold?

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Is SAIC working to buy the Buick brand? It would give them a foothold in the US market, with a brand that is popular in China. Truthaboutcars thinks it's a possibility.

Article

"According to the Shanghai Securities News via Gasgoo, GM’s Chinese joint venture partner SAIC is planning to buy the Buick brand from GM, or, at the very least, take over the rights to use the Buick brand in China. "
 
I would think that they would want to keep it if they could as the money they are making right now is coming from asia and well that brand is big over there.
 
Why can't Chinese companies build their own brands in the consumer market? They seem to be missing "something" about that aspect of capitalism. Can we name a Chinese brand besides Haier? I can't. Toshiba, Honda, Toyota, Hitachi... all Asian brand names built by companies. China.... still waiting. This is "sort of" a criticism, but it seems odd the approach they are taking. Are there going to be 500 companies built by other countries and just co-oped by the Chinese?
 
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Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Why can't Chinese companies build their own brands in the consumer market? They seem to be missing "something" about that aspect of capitalism. Can we name a Chinese brand besides Haier? I can't. Toshiba, Honda, Toyota, Hitachi... all Asian brand names built by companies. China.... still waiting. This is "sort of" a criticism, but it seems odd the approach they are taking. Are there going to be 500 companies built by other countries and just co-oped by the Chinese?



i believe the Chinese public still views their home grown attempts at autos inferior to car that come from a company that has built cars for a while.

Also have you seen the Buicks they get over there. The ones I have seen have been really nice looking. Also from my understanding is that they hold the same prestige as something like the Mercedes brand holds here.
 
It would be a shame because IMO Buick is GM's best brand.
I know Caddy is their 'premium' division but I wouldn't buy a Caddy even if it costs the same as a Buick. (to gimicky)
 
This is a predictable move by GM. They are a company that has their back against a wall and they have to start liquidating assets. Frankly they dont have much choice. They have to sell assets at a time when automobile companies are worth very little because of their debt. The Buick name is very valuable in China and eventually could give the Chinese an export market back to the US. For now, they need all of the supply they can get back in China. For the first time in March more than 1 million cars were sold in China and also for the first time more cars were sold in China than in the US for a 1 month period.

GM retains a stake because much of the design, technology and supply chain will remain under their control and possibly some financial control. If they need to raise additional cash, more pieces could be divested to the Chinese.

This could be a harbinger for what will happen quickly to the big 3 US autos. Dismantling and selling off big pieces of the empire. In 10 years what is left of GM might be competing with the Chinese who will be selling Chinese made luxury Buicks back into the US. Its either that or protectionism.
 
The Buick brand has value in China. GM needs the money and needs to cull brands from its product line. Why not sell it now when the brand is worth something than let it die a slow death until its worthless (see Saab, Hummer and Saturn)?
 
Well, now that the government owns GM, they can do whatever they want. I expect some interesting stuff happening next month....
 
Oh, that'd be a shame. My two favorite brands have always been Oldsmobile and Buick. One has gone the way of the Studebaker... and now this.

Danm you GM.
 
As said above, Buick is one of the better selling brands GM has.
The divisions most likely to get the axe/sold are Hummer and Saturn.
GMC trucks may disappear as they are little more that Chevys anyway.
 
I thought that the idea was to keep Buick and let Pontiac die. Since Buick has scored real well it would seem like it might be one you'd want to keep.
 
Left lane news thinks the 3 brands that will be left after GM is restructured are Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC.

Left Lane Article

"With the Hummer brand up for sale, Saab’s future in question, Saturn likely to be spun-off or killed, Pontiac being phased out, and Opel potentially for sale, it’s easy to see how this might be achieved. In fact, wouldn’t be surprised if Chevrolet, Cadillac, and GMC are the only brands left standing when the dust settles."
 
#1 rule with receivership is that the value gets stripped out of the company.

(what's left has zero bargaining power from then on).

Receivers MUST get the max value to the creditors...they don't look at viable future entities, they look at cash now.

If GM gets money selling Buick, versus Pontiac, then that's the way it goes
 
Originally Posted By: wapacz
Also have you seen the Buicks they get over there. The ones I have seen have been really nice looking.


I agree!

Here is a Chinese 2007 Buick Park Avenue:

560192445_9cc6276ebd_b.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: el_zorro
This is a predictable move by GM. They are a company that has their back against a wall and they have to start liquidating assets. Frankly they dont have much choice.....
This could be a harbinger for what will happen quickly to the big 3 US autos. Dismantling and selling off big pieces of the empire.

Your prediction would have been prescient back in the 1980s, but what you anticipate is something that GM and the others have been doing for more than a decade. Who owns GMAC? Not GM. What military equipment does GM make? Not much. Does Chrysler still make Abrams tanks? No. Does Ford still own Jaguar and Land Rover? No.

From Wikipedia: "In 1985 General Motors purchased Hughes Aircraft and merged it with Delco Electronics to form Hughes Electronics Corporation, an independent subsidiary. In 1997 all of the aerospace and defense businesses of Hughes Electronics (Hughes Aircraft and Delco Systems Operations) were merged with Raytheon, and the commercial portion of Delco Electronics was transferred to GM's Delphi Automotive Systems business. Delphi became a separate publicly-traded company on the 28 of May 1999, and continued to use the Delco Electronics name for several of its subsidiaries through approximately 2004."

Delphi, Delco, Hughes -- all were once part of GM, and now they're not because GM needed to raise cash. And the cash is gone.

Ford still has a few assets, which it has decided not to sell. GM and Chrysler have sold everything worth selling.
 
Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Why can't Chinese companies build their own brands in the consumer market? They seem to be missing "something" about that aspect of capitalism. Can we name a Chinese brand besides Haier? I can't. Toshiba, Honda, Toyota, Hitachi... all Asian brand names built by companies. China.... still waiting. This is "sort of" a criticism, but it seems odd the approach they are taking. Are there going to be 500 companies built by other countries and just co-oped by the Chinese?



Lenovo PC and Olevia TV?
 
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People seem to miss that this is how the Japanese companies got their start.

The resemblance between the original Datsun Z and the Ferarri Dino is unmistakable. Datsun spotted something that would surely become a classic (although most Ferarri purists look down their noses at the Dino) and copied it...with great success. The Z car has become a cult classic, thanks to help from the Ferarri design team.

It happened in the past, and will continue.
 
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