General Motors said that it will offer all of its Buick franchise dealers in the U.S. buyouts,the Wall Street Journal reported. In June 2022, Buick announced plans to go all-electric by 2030 starting with a crossover SUV in 2024.
Global Vice President of Buick and GMC, Duncan Aldred, told WSJ that shifting to EVs will require significant investments by Buick dealers.
“So if they want to exit the Buick franchise, then we will give them monetary assistance to do so,” he said.
Aldred was expected to outline the plan during a virtual meeting this afternoon. Aldred pointed out that for GM to meet its goal of selling only EVs by 2030, this would require substantial investments in equipment which includes charging stations and upgrades.
“Not everyone necessarily wants to make that journey, depending on where they’re located or the level of expenditure that the transition will demand.”
“So if they want to exit the Buick franchise, then we will give them monetary assistance to do so.”
According to a GM spokeswoman, the future requirements for dealers are important to the company’s electrification goals. She told Reuters,
“The future dealer requirements are a logical and necessary next step on our path towards electrification to ensure our dealers are prepared to properly sell and service these unique vehicles.”
Last year, GM also offered Cadillac dealers buyouts and around 150 dealers accepted those offers over investing in EVs. GM told those dealers that for them to sell its upcoming EVs, they would need to make at least $200,000 in upgrades which would cover EV chargers, tooling, and training.
Buick just offered to buy out ALL of its U.S. dealers.
Holy sh*t. 🤯
DTC is happening.
— Car Dealership Guy (@GuyDealership) September 2, 2022
Direct to consumers sales is something that Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, and several other automakers selling EVs offer, and they bypass the dealership model. Although I don’t think that the dealership’s reign will end swiftly, it would, however, send shockwaves through the automotive world if one of GM’s brands suddenly started selling directly to the consumer as the tweet above suggested.
Currently, several states ban direct-to-consumer sales and Tesla is suing Louisiana to overturn that ban. Connecticut’s dealerships have fought long and hard to keep Tesla and other EV makers from selling directly to consumers.
If Buick suddenly went direct to consumers, then it would currently be limited to where it can sell to customers. However, Buick and GM would probably lobby the states to allow them to sell directly to consumers. Will this ever happen? Probably not. It would be interesting, though.
Note: Johnna is a Tesla shareholder and supports its mission.
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Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
Tesla plans to supply over 100 Megapack units to support a large stationary storage project in Japan, making it one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities.
Tesla’s Megapack grid-scale batteries have been selected to back an energy storage project in Japan, coming as the latest of the company’s continued deployment of the hardware.
As detailed in a report from Nikkei this week, Tesla plans to supply 142 Megapack units to support a 548 MWh storage project in Japan, set to become one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities. The project is being overseen by financial firm Orix, and it will be located at a facility Maibara in central Japan’s Shiga prefecture, and it aims to come online in early 2027.
The deal is just the latest of several Megapack deployments over the past few years, as the company continues to ramp production of the units. Tesla currently produces the Megapack at a facility in Lathrop, California, though the company also recently completed construction on its second so-called “Megafactory” in Shanghai China and is expected to begin production in the coming weeks.
READ MORE ON TESLA MEGAPACKS: Tesla Megapacks help power battery supplier Panasonic’s Kyoto test site
Tesla’s production of the Megapack has been ramping up at the Lathrop facility since initially opening in 2022, and both this site and the Shanghai Megafactory are aiming to eventually reach a volume production of 10,000 Megapack units per year. The company surpassed its 10,000th Megapack unit produced at Lathrop in November.
During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call last week, CEO Elon Musk also said that the company is looking to construct a third Megafactory, though he did not disclose where.
Last year, Tesla Energy also had record deployments of its Megapack and Powerwall home batteries with a total of 31.4 GWh of energy products deployed for a 114-percent increase from 2023.
Other recently deployed or announced Megapack projects include a massive 600 MW/1,600 MWh facility in Melbourne, a 75 MW/300 MWh energy storage site in Belgium, and a 228 MW/912 MWh storage project in Chile, along with many others still.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
Tesla highlights the Megapack site replacing Hawaii’s last coal plant
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Elon Musk responds to Ontario canceling $100M Starlink deal amid tariff drama
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, opens new tab on February 3 that he was “ripping up” his province’s CA$100 million agreement with Starlink in response to the U.S. imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.
Elon Musk company SpaceX is set to lose a $100 million deal with the Canadian province of Ontario following a response to the Trump administration’s decision to apply 25 percent tariffs to the country.
Starlink, a satellite-based internet service launched by the Musk entity SpaceX, will lose a $100 million deal it had with Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced today.
Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts.
Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will…
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 3, 2025
Ford said on X today that Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts:
“We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy. Canada didn’t start this fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win it.”
It is a blow to the citizens of the province more than anything, as the Starlink internet constellation has provided people in rural areas across the globe stable and reliable access for several years.
Musk responded in simple terms, stating, “Oh well.”
Oh well https://t.co/1jpMu55T6s
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025
It seems Musk is less than enthused about the fact that Starlink is being eliminated from the province, but it does not seem like all that big of a blow either.
As previously mentioned, this impacts citizens more than Starlink itself, which has established itself as a main player in reliable internet access. Starlink has signed several contracts with various airlines and maritime companies.
It is also expanding to new territories across the globe on an almost daily basis.
With Mexico already working to avoid the tariff situation with the United States, it will be interesting to see if Canada does the same.
The two have shared a pleasant relationship, but President Trump is putting his foot down in terms of what comes across the border, which could impact Americans in the short term.
Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
