Buick

Buick is a division of General Motors and one of the oldest automobile brands in the United States, tracing its origins to 1899 when it was founded by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick. It ranks among the earliest American automobile manufacturers, and with the discontinuation of Oldsmobile in 2004, it became the oldest surviving American automobile brand still in production.

The company played a foundational role in the American automobile industry, as it was the enterprise from which General Motors itself was established in 1908. William C. Durant, who later founded General Motors, first served as Buick's general manager and became a major investor in the company before expanding it into a larger corporate group.

The first Buick automobiles were produced in Detroit, Michigan, developed under chief engineer Walter Marr, though David Buick was initially hesitant to move into automobile manufacturing, preferring to focus on stationary and marine engines. Marr departed the company in 1901 to start his own automobile venture, and Eugene Richard took over engineering duties, later patenting the valve-in-head, or overhead valve, engine design that had originally been developed by Marr. This patent was awarded in Buick's name in 1904.

In 1903, David Buick formally incorporated the Buick Motor Company in Detroit. The business was financed by Benjamin Briscoe, who later sold control to James H. Whiting of the Flint Wagon Works. Whiting subsequently relocated the company to Flint, Michigan, where David Buick continued as a manager and rehired Walter Marr as chief engineer. Early production was limited, and after Whiting ran short of capital, William C. Durant was brought in as a controlling investor in 1904.

Under Durant's direction, Buick expanded rapidly, becoming the best-selling automobile brand in the United States within a few years. Production increased sharply from 37 vehicles in 1904 to more than 8,800 by 1908, at which point Buick claimed to be the largest car manufacturer in the world. Some early production also took place at a former Durant-Dort Imperial Wheel plant in Jackson, Michigan, before a new factory was completed in Flint in 1907.

David Buick sold his stock in the company in 1906, and by 1908 Durant used the success of Buick as the basis for founding General Motors. Buick's early achievements, particularly through its innovative valve-in-head engine technology, were central to the eventual creation of General Motors as a larger automotive enterprise.

Within General Motors' brand hierarchy, Buick has been positioned as a premium marque, ranking above the mainstream Chevrolet brand but below the luxury Cadillac division, even though many of its vehicles have shared underlying platforms with other GM brands. In North America, Buick vehicles have typically been sold alongside GMC vehicles at shared multi-brand dealerships.