why were Reattas discontinued?

[Guest]

after making so many changes to the 1991 Reattas from the previous model years, why did Buick/GM finally decide to discontinue production? was there any more to it than low sales figures, since, after all, there were more sold in 1990 than in previous years? and, how long after the 1991's were in the showroom did production cease?<BR>these are things i've always wondered, but never got around to asking before.<BR>thanks,<BR>doug wolfe<BR>wilkes-barre, pa

[Barney Eaton]

This is my opinion, we may never know the complete story.<BR>1. GM needed a place (small) to build their new electric car.<BR>2. The Reatta line was never intended to be more than a limited production line, so there were limits on how many they could build. <BR>3. The car was probably a "lost leader" to get people in the showroom and to show younger people that Buick could still build a car that would turn heads. <BR>4. Along with reason #3 GM had closed the Lansing plant that made rear drive axels and they probably had the union on their backs to employ people in Lansing. <BR>5. In the showroom, next to a Riviera, the Reatta base price was $28335 in 1990, the Riviera was $23040. The Riviera was more practicle, the could hold 4 adults, maybe 5 in a pinch. So unless the buyer absolutely wanted the Reatta, the Riviera won, it had a two people advantage plus was $5,295 (about 23%) lower priced.<BR>There may have been other small things that sold the Riviera, you could get it with cloth interior, Bose sound, vinyl top, two tone paint, you never know what the public wants. <P>Bottom line, by the end of 1990 production, GM knew the cars were not selling, they had saturated the small market and had 1990 cars unsold. 1991 production did not start until the last week of November (4-5 month later than normal) they built 297 cars in four weeks then stopped again for 6 weeks, restarting the first week of Feb. '91 and built until the end of May, when production ended. <BR>*1991 production information supplied by Stan Leslie.<BR><P>------------------<BR>Barney Eaton Reatta technical advisor for BCA and keeper of the Reatta database.

[Guest]

An excellent car, but no market. People that wanted a two seat car wanted a corvette or z-car or the like, not a buick, especially considering the price and performance. People that wanted a buick wanted a big four door bomber.

[Guest]

If you really stop and think about the time period, many two seaters and unique sports cars fell by wayside. Though not all at the same time.<P>The Fiero started out as a comuter car and quickly turned into a disaster on four wheels! By the time they started to get things right, (1988 model) they dropped them.<P>The same can be said for the Nissan Pulsar and 300 ZX, Subaru SVX, Mazda RX7, Toyata MR2 and Supra, Honda Civic del sol, even the Mitsubishi Conquest TSI.<P>All of which got dropped like a hot potato and only God knows why. Certain cars like the Mazda Miata (Which I hate) seem to have longevity however. <P>Or the Corvette for that matter, which has seen many a dismal year. Chevorlet however never gave up on them, and continued to support them as their flagship automobile.<P>So why did Buick give up on the Reatta? who knows? There are times when I wish that they had continued with and perhaps come out with different versions. (Not to mention correct some of the screws up that were made durring production)<P>

[Guest]

<P> GM stopped making them because they were not profitable. The Reatta had limited parts interchange with other GM cars, as all of us who have needed discontiued parts numbers well know.<P> The Reatta is also underpowered for its type of market and price range. Compare it with what was available at that time for the price and you will see the performance definately lacking.<P>