One of the world's oldest automobile marques, General Motors' near-luxury brand remains an ambitious survivor, as one of GM's last four active consumer vehicle lines. Founded in 1903, Buick served as the platform for GM's early corporate conglomeration. As Alfred Sloan refined the GM business model around mid-century, Buick was charged with holding onto customers who were growing and aging out of the Chevrolet and Pontiac brands. It became known for sleek styling, such as the 1949 Roadmaster, and ageless cues such as "waterfall" grilles and "Ventiport" holes on the hood or front fenders. Over the last few decades, Buick also gained as a performance brand, a tack that culminated in the 1988 introduction of the Buick Reatta two-seater. But as GM homogenized brands to cut development and manufacturing costs over the last couple of decades, Buick's identity suffered the most, and its demise was speculated. Instead, GM deep-sixed Oldsmobile and recommitted to Buick. Brand management stepped up, making Buick a domestic hallmark for product quality in J.D. Power surveys. In the vanguard of GM's globalization, Buick has become the most popular automotive brand in China, and GM engineers there are helping design new Buicks for North America. In the U.S., new models including the Enclave crossover, and renewed nameplates including LaCrosse, are making Buick a winning product line again.
