Buick City

Flint's 235-acre complex temporarily known as Buick City was in operation from 1904 until 1999, although some component production continued until 2010.

Buick City was a name applied to the former Buick home plant following major renovations completed during the early 1980's to better compete with Japanese producers. The plant was a massive automobile manufacturing complex in the northeast of Flint, Michigan.^[1] Elements of the 235-acre (950,000 m²) complex dated from before 1904, when it was known as Flint Wagon Works. Once General Motors assumed operations all aspects of Buick vehicles were constructed, and it became known as Buick City in 1985. The engine block and cylinder heads were cast at in Defiance, Ohio and earlier at Saginaw Metal Casting Operations in Saginaw, Michigan.

The original factory at one time was the largest in the world, consisting of 24 separate buildings contributing to the manufacturing process,^[2] until 1928 when the Ford River Rouge Complex was completed and began operations. In the beginning, all components were manufactured in one location, to include wheel bearings, nuts, bolts, and screws, to transmissions, suspension components, wheels and interior components. Operations were carried out in this fashion well into the 1940s and beyond.

Operations ceased completely in 2010. The site was vacated by GM employees and site responsibilities were transferred to Motors Liquidation Company as of December 6, 2010. The final cars built at Buick City were the Pontiac Bonneville and the Buick LeSabre. Manufacturing operations were transferred to Orion Assembly.

The plant originated with Buick before the formation of General Motors. Other elements were built by early manufacturers and suppliers like Fisher Body. For more than 80 years, it was Buick's "home plant" and built the majority of models in the line up. After World War II, when vehicle production resumed, Buick City was the primary location where all components were created, with knock-down kits distributed to assembly plants in major metropolitan US cities, where the vehicles were locally assembled and distributed in their respective regions.

The Buick City concept represented a successful attempt by General Motors to experiment with just-in-time manufacturing methods in response to Japanese manufacturers. The experiment included successes: The 1989 Buick LeSabre built in Buick City was ranked the top car in the J.D. Power and Associates rankings for that year; it was the first American built car to appear on the list.

General Motors announced in 1997 that the plant would close, as production of the next generation of full sized GM cars would be consolidated at Orion Assembly. In 1999, the year the plant was closed, Buick City won J. D. Power's Platinum Award for assembly plant quality.^[3] The plant closed on June 29, 1999. As of 2016, it is the only General Motors plant to win the award.

The closing of GM's manufacturing plants in Flint, and its subsequent economic toll on the community was chronicled in Michael Moore's 1989 documentary film, Roger & Me.

The plant's acreage became an EPA cleanup site.^[4]

In 2013, American Cast Iron Pipe Company announced plans to construct a new 200,000 square foot manufacturing plant on the former Buick City complex.^[5]

On August 11, 2017, a 156,000-square-foot Lear Corporation seat manufacturing facility situated on 33 acres at the former Buick City site in Flint.^{[clarification needed]}

In pop culture[]

The Old 97s 2001 album Satellite Rides features the track "Buick City Complex".

See also[]

• List of GM factories

Further reading[]

• "General Motors closes Buick City complex in Flint, Michigan". World Socialist. Retrieved May 10, 2005.

References[]

External links[]

• Demolition photos
• JD Powers and Associates from Answers.com
• Flint 'Buick City' no more -- last Buicks made there roll off assembly line

Coordinates: 43°2′52.81″N 83°41′5.41″W / 43.0480028°N 83.6848361°W / 43.0480028; -83.6848361