Michigan Buick Dealers like Sellers Buick GMC Embrace New Brand Change
DETROIT, M.I. – Michigan Buick dealers like Sellers Buick GMC felt the shock when General Motors announced they would be discontinuing the Pontiac brand. It was a difficult task for some dealerships to cope with the swift shift in which vehicles they would be offering. For Sam Slaughter's Sellers Buick GMC, he found a solution that saved his dealership and the jobs it created for its associates.
Here's how Sam Slaughter did it:
2005
Sellers Buick GMC did not sell the Buick name, but was establishing a loyal customer base of Pontiac and GMC shoppers.
2006
The Buick franchise may have been considered a "grandfather" car by some Michigan Buick dealers, and Slaughter felt no different when he acquired the Buick franchise. He had his doubts about the brand, but would try to continue building on its name.
2007 – March 2009
In 2008, Slaughter broke ground and began the remodeling process of modernizing his showroom by adding an Express café, which included Wi-Fi capabilities.
Sellers Buick GMC was selling Pontiacs, Buicks and GMC vehicles to its customers. After almost three years, Buick was less than 10 percent of the total volume being sold at Sellers while Pontiac was holding the largest volume at 55 percent and GMC at 35 percent.
April 2009
General Motors announced the Pontiac brand would no longer be manufactured. To some Michigan Buick dealers this was a problem; for others it was not, as they were already well mixed with Buick models. Dealerships like Sellers Buick GMC had some work to do to embrace the Buick name.
Going Forward
Slaughter continued to remodel his showroom while he retrained his staff on the specifics needed to sell Buick. As the volume for Pontiac would soon be diminishing and disappearing, Slaughter needed a plan to sustain his business while the dealership transitioned into Buick.
"We tried our best to gracefully get out of the Pontiac business while also ramping up this whole premium idea," said Slaughter, Dealer Principal of Sellers Buick GMC, in a press release from Crain's Detroit. "We completely shifted gears."
In the second half of 2009, Slaughter decided to acquire 500 units of Pontiac through dealer trade-ins while other Michigan Buick dealers were doing what they could to get rid of their stock. While Slaughter used Pontiac for additional cash-flow, he also hired a four-person business development team to begin reaching out for new Buick customers.
In 2010, Slaughter and his associates were still working hard to change its loyal Pontiac base over to the Buick models that would still suit their needs. Slaughter believed, for example, that Pontiac G6 customers would be happy in a Buick Regal MI sedan. The Buick Regal was being pushed as one of the premium vehicles available from Buick, and many customers have come to see it as a luxury brand.
[Rewind: Buick Regal MI Drivers Gain More Value as Buick Overtakes Other Luxury Brands]
Switching over his customers was very successful. Also, by the time the last Pontiac was sold at Sellers on Jan. 3, 2010, the remodel was complete with wood accents and a Wi-Fi capable café for customers.
Finally, Sellers Buick GMC saw the results as the dealership sold 687 Buicks in 2010, which was more than any other dealership in the county.
Slaughter's success story and quick ideas were able to keep his dealership in the industry while a change that could have been damaging happened. There is a shrine in honor of the Pontiac at Sellers Buick GMC; it includes a sign "1926-2010" above 1966 Pontiac GTO in honor of the brand that kept his dealership afloat for many years.
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[Source(s): Crain's Detroit]
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