SUVs Dominate Buick Fourth Quarter Sales Report
Photo: The News Wheel
Buick ended 2019 on a bit of a decline, posting a 4.3 percent dip in sales for the fourth quarter.
In the last three months of the year, Buick sold 49,074 vehicles, down from the 51,257 it sold over the same period in 2018.
Buick’s lineup will soon be totally devoid of sedans, and that shift in focus was reflected in the quarterly numbers. A whopping 95.8 percent of the brand’s sales came from SUVs.
Although the premium auto brand’s quarterly sales drop was no doubt a disappointment to General Motors, it’s somewhat understandable. In September and October, a United Autoworkers strike halted production for more than a month, disrupting the supply of popular models at dealerships across the country.
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Photo: The News Wheel
The Encore subcompact SUV was the Buick fourth-quarter sales leader in a landslide. Despite Buick’s overall lower sales, the Encore posted an impressive 22.2 percent gain with 28,497 models sold.
The Enclave was No. 2 in sales with 10,143 units moved, but this midsize SUV had a rough quarter in terms of gains, losing 29.7 percent compared to the previous year.
The Envision, which slots between the Encore and Enclave in size, was Buick’s third-best seller for the quarter. This model sold 8,380 units for a solid 11.2 percent gain.
Buick’s minuscule car sales totals were led by the soon-to-be-canceled Regal lineup, which sold 1,514 units — down 51.3 percent from the same stretch in 2018. The already-discontinued LaCrosse sedan sold 463 units (down 78.1 percent), while the also-canceled Cascada convertible was down 89.6 percent with 77 sales.
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A longtime editor/writer and recently transplanted Hoosier, Caleb Cook lives in Xenia, Ohio. His favorite activities are reading and listening to music, although he occasionally emerges from the heap of books and vinyl records in his basement to stand blinking in the sunlight. Once fully acclimated to the outside world again, he can be observed hanging out with his wife, attempting a new recipe in the kitchen, attending movies, walking the dog, or wandering into a local brewery to inquire about what’s on tap. See more articles by Caleb.