General Motors has told the owners of Tucson's only Buick dealership, Royal Buick, 4333 E. Speedway, that it will no longer be a dealer of the automaker's upper tier line.
As part of GM's bankruptcy and reorganization, the 32-year-old dealership will sell its remaining inventory of new Buicks by Jan. 1 and will offer parts and service and honor warranties through Oct. 31, 2010, according to a statement by Royal Automotive Group owner Paul Weitman.
No reason was given for the termination of the dealership agreement, said Steve Lace, general manager and vice president of the Royal Automotive Group.
But he said GM has been trying to "channel" dealerships over the last few years, pairing Buick, Pontiac and GMC under the same roof when possible, and having Chevrolet and Cadillac as stand-alone dealerships. And, after last month's announcement that the Pontiac Division will close, that would leave Buick and GMC as paired marquees.
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The Don Mackey group of GM dealerships has had GMC, Pontiac, Cadillac and Saab at the Tucson Auto Mall. With Pontiac closing and the Saab unit for sale, that would leave Mackey as a likely candidate for the Tucson Buick franchise.
Lace said the notice from GM made no mention of who the new Tucson Buick dealer would be, or even if there would be one.
"We were not told what their plans were," Lace said. "All that's sure is we will be selling our existing inventory out. When we sell out our last car we won't be shipped any last cars. We'll still be able to take care of our (Buick) customers for warranty work until Oct. 31, 2010.
A GM official declined to comment.
"Those are private discussions between us (GM) and the dealers," said GM corporate news relations director Tom Wilkinson. He said he could not even confirm that Royal had been dropped as a dealer or comment on prospects for a new Buick dealership in Tucson.
Frank Sapone, general manager of the Don Mackey's Tucson group of dealerships, said he couldn't comment on whether they were in talks with GM about becoming the next Tucson Buick dealer. He did say GM has been "channeling" GMC, Pontiac and Buick dealers and that it was safe to say "there would be one" in Tucson.
Lace said Royal's Buick sales are down from six or seven years ago, but that it had the second-highest sales volume in the Buick Division's 14-state Western states and just last week received a Buick Division award for sales and service excellence in 2008.
Royal Buick is part of the Royal Automotive Group, which includes Royal Buick, Hummer and Lexus of Tucson in separate buildings on the 4333 E. Speedway campus; Lexus of Tucson, and Royal Jaguar and Land Rover at the Tucson Auto Mall, 4670 N. Circuit Road; Royal Kia at 4635 E. 22nd St.; and Royal Suzuki and the body shop for the entire group, at 5920 E. Speedway. Lace said the Royal Automotive Group has 275 employees.
In a statement released Friday afternoon, Royal Automotive Group owner Weitman announced: "This change in our business is part of the General Motors court supervised restructuring efforts.
"We are surprised and saddened by this news but want to assure our customers, both past and present, and all our employees at all our dealerships that the Royal Automotive Group family of dealerships remains strong and stable."
Royal also retains its Hummer dealership, pending a new agreement currently under negotiations between General Motors and a Chinese industrial buyer.
DID YOU KNOW
Founded in 1977, Royal Buick has been a longtime supporter of University of Arizona athletics.
In December 2006, three different contestants made the required layup, free throw, three-point and half-court shot to win a new Buick from Royal Buick at Wildcat men's basketball games. It had been several years since anyone had won the contest.