The last few new Buicks are trickling off the lot as the area's only Buick dealer closes down the franchise. Parent company General Motors still isn't saying anything about who, or even if, anyone will deal Buicks in Tucson.
On Tuesday morning, 10 new Buicks — mostly Lucernes — were left on the lot at Royal Buick, 4333 E. Speedway, said Steve Lace, vice president and general manager.
The 32-year-old dealership was told by GM officials in June that it no longer would be a Buick dealer. Lace said Royal is expected to clean out its inventory of new Buicks by the end of the year, but it will continue to do warranty work through Oct. 31, 2010.
Lace said Tuesday that he hadn't heard anything about the assumed pending award of a Buick franchise for Tucson.
The assumption is that Quebedeaux Pontiac GMC, 3434 E. Speedway, which lost its Pontiac franchise when GM closed that division, will get the Buick dealership. GM officials have said they intend to pair GMC and Buick franchises under the same roofs throughout the country.
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Owner Thomas Quebedeaux said Tuesday that almost anyone knows as much as he does about what will happen. He said GM corporate headquarters isn't telling him anything, though he said he doesn't blame the carmaker for its reluctance.
GM corporate spokesman John M. McDonald said Tuesday that GM had no timetable for awarding Buick franchises, nor plans to announce the award of Buick franchises in Tucson or anywhere in the country when made. He said that, out of respect for the dealers' independent business status, GM would leave announcements up to the dealers.
"It's not that I can't say," Quebedeaux said. "I haven't applied. No one's asked me to apply. Since Royal received a wind-down (notice of loss of franchise) and I didn't, you have to assume Buick would be coming here to go along with the GMC truck" dealership, Quebedeaux said.
Quebedeaux suspects, though he said he has no way of knowing for sure, that GM isn't about to announce anything about Buick franchise awards while Congress is still involved in the automaker's affairs.
He points to intervention by Tucson Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords on behalf of dealer Don Mackey's Tucson Cadillac, GMC and, until this spring, Pontiac, dealerships after GM announced it was ending its relationship with him.
Mackey got his Cadillac dealership back after meeting with Giffords, who co-sponsored legislation to roll back GM and Chrysler dealer cuts made during the companies' respective bankruptcies.
Quebedeaux said the Mackey situation wasn't as complicated as those in cities with several dealerships selling the same marque. Because Mackey was the only Cadillac dealer in Tucson, "it didn't affect anyone else," he said.
In other markets, Quebedeaux said, "it's going on all over the country. There are Congress people trying to get things reversed. I know GM has its plan, but it's hard to put it to bed as long as" there is the possibility of congressional or Obama administration intervention.
In the meantime, Quebedeaux said, service for Buick owners "isn't a problem. Royal has a great service department."
Saturn — like Pontiac and Oldsmobile before it — also is being shut down by GM. A deal to sell the division fell through last week.
No one from Saturn of Tucson, 6350 E. Grant Road, part of the Chapman Automotive Group, returned phone calls Monday or Tuesday about the dealership's status and inventory.
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The Royal Automotive Group sells several other marques besides the Buick it is losing — Lexus, Jaguar, Land Rover, Kia, Suzuki and Hummer.
Royal sells Hummer at 4333 E. Speedway and Lexus next door and at the Tucson Auto Mall, west of North Oracle Road near the Tucson Mall. Royal also has Jaguar and Land Rover dealerships at the Auto Mall. And it sells Kias at its store at 4635 E. 22nd St. and Suzukis at 5920 E. Speedway.