HALF of all Buick dealerships to close?

Photo above - Grammy award winning guitarist Ry Cooder (and wife) pose with an iconic Buick Electra for his album "Into the Purple Valley". Buick has revived the Electra model name for its upcoming EV. If Buicks still actually looked this cool, I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

Last week's story . . . 1/3 of Ford dealerships refuse to sell its electric cars. GM will see that bid and up the ante to an astonishing 50% dealer closure rate for Buick. Who's still in this EV game, or is everyone folding, and the pot goes to Tesla, Hyundai, and Kia? See link below . . .

I'd shed a tear for GM except . . . Edmunds.com just bought an electric Chevy Blazer for a 12-month test drive. Headline: It's not going well. Quote: “(The) Chevy Blazer EV has 23 problems after only 2 months . . . the car erupted with error messages during a drive from Los Angeles to San Diego. When they took it to a dealer, they received the single longest list of major faults Edmunds have ever seen on a car."

Okay, okay . . . I get it. Chevrolet doesn't know how to build electric cars. Their Bolt was rated the worst American made EV. It set garages on fire. A total recall – every single unit – to completely replace the batteries, which took two years. And then the Bolt model was summarily cancelled. And now we have the electric Blazer, which might be set to smash every record set by the Bolt . . .

Surely the electric Buicks . . . when they arrive in 2025 or so . . . will be better, right? I mean, by then, GM will have had nearly a decade to figure things out. Stop laughing . . . it could happen!

GM is putting a brave face on the closure of half its Buick dealerships. First, there's the half that DIDN'T close. Second, Buick sales (gasoline models only) are actually up 47% this year . . . compared to the pandemic shutdown 2020-2021period. Third, most Buick owners aren't actually THAT old, and are familiar with electric appliances introduced in the mid-1900's. And finally, even after closing half their stores, there will still be a Buick dealership no more than 25 miles away from you . . . probably, if no more close.

How does this affect the frickin' economy? Since the president's proposed tax credits apply ONLY to EV's built by UAW union labor, this means fewer payouts which drive up the national debt. Silver lining! The downside, of course, is that there will be fewer UAW members wielding screwdrivers and pliers to finish off new “Electras”. Wait, wasn't that the name of a ginormous Buick land barge that went out of production 33 years ago? Hey, General Motors PAID for that trademark, and they can use it any way they want. Super!

I'm probably not interested in buying a 2025 Buick Electra – unless it looks like the one in the photo at top. Sunflower yellow, convertible, wide white sidewalls . . . and don't forget the decorative “venti-ports” on the sides of the hood, so you could tell whether it was a 6 cylinder or a V8.

Buick . . . sorry to hear that you're on a death watch now. We salute the car makes and models that fell before you . . . Pontiac; Saturn; Mercury; Plymouth; Oldsmobile; Studebaker; Packard; DeSoto. You should be proud that at least you never burned anyone's garage down simply by being plugged into a wall outlet.

I'm just sayin' . . .

GM buys out nearly half of its Buick dealers across the country, who opt to not sell EVs (yahoo.com)