Buick City was a massive, vertically-integrated automobile manufacturing complex in northeast Flint, Michigan, which served the Buick home plant between 1904 and 1999. In the early 1980s, after major renovations were completed to better compete with Japanese producers, the plant was renamed to "Buick City".
History
From 1904 to its closure in 1999, Buick City was the central plant for Buick and one of General Motors' largest factories; for those years, the majority of Buick automobiles were produced at Buick City.
The original factory at one time was the largest in the world, consisting of 24 separate buildings contributing to the manufacturing process, 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.
Origins
Elements of the complex dated from before 1904, when it was known as Flint Wagon Works; the first manufacturing operations at the site started in 1898 after Billy Durant and Josiah Dallas Dort purchased the Imperial Wheel Company and moved its factory to the intersection of Hamilton Avenue and St. John Street (now James P. Cole Blvd). After Flint Wagon Works purchased Buick Motor Company in September 1903, Buick's operations were relocated to a location in Flint, on Hamilton between Industrial and St. John, producing 16 cars in 1903 and 37 in 1904. In 1918, Buick switched production to the Liberty L-12 engine in Flint, supporting manufacturing for military aircraft and vehicles used in World War I. After several updates and a US$350 million investment, it was christened "Buick City" in September 1985, GM's answer to Toyota City, adopting the latter's high technology, just-in-time manufacturing methods, labor-management cooperation, and inventory control. Production of Buick and Oldsmobile H-body cars was scheduled to commence at Buick City for the 1986 model year.
The Buick City concept represented a successful attempt by General Motors to compete with Japanese manufacturers; the 1989 Buick LeSabre built in Buick City was the top-ranked car in the J.D. Power and Associates customer satisfaction survey for that year; it was the first American built car to appear on the list.
For the engine assembly plant (Factory 36), the engine block and cylinder heads were cast at Defiance Foundry in Defiance, Ohio and earlier at Saginaw Metal Casting Operations in Saginaw, Michigan.
Closure and demolition
At the end of 1986, General Motors announced that 11 manufacturing plants would be closed by 1989; this put 35,000 of the 150,000 Flint residents out of work, and the subsequent economic toll on the community was chronicled in Michael Moore's 1989 documentary film, Roger & Me, although the closure of Buick City would not start until a decade after the film was released.
Citing declining sedan sales, General Motors announced in 1997 the Buick City plant would close; the last day of vehicle assembly plant operations was June 29, 1999. That same year, Buick City won J. D. Power's Platinum Award for assembly plant quality. As of 2016, it is the only General Motors plant to win the award. The final cars built at Buick City were the Pontiac Bonneville and the Buick LeSabre. Full-size sedan manufacturing was consolidated at Orion Assembly.
Vehicle engines and components continued to be manufactured in the northern part of the site, renamed General Motors Powertrain Flint North, for approximately another decade; however, the remainder of Buick City was vacated by GM employees and site responsibilities were transferred to Motors Liquidation Company as of December 6, 2010. 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.
Reuse
The plant's acreage became an EPA cleanup site.
In August 2018, a 156,000-square-foot Lear Corporation seat manufacturing facility opened, built on 33 acres of the former Buick City site in Flint.
Site
The Buick City site occupies , bounded approximately by E Pierson Rd (to the north), Saginaw, North, Industrial, and Andrew/Horton (to the west), E Hamilton Ave (to the south), and CSX Railroad and James P Cole Blvd (to the east). It is divided into the Northend (north of Leith) and Southend (south of Leith). Automobile manufacturing activities in the Southend ceased in 1999 and the buildings were demolished by 2002; the Northend continued manufacturing automotive parts and components until 2010, and most buildings there were demolished by 2012.
Structures
;Building 01 (administration)
Building 01, built in 1968, was a three-story building with approximately of floor space, used solely as an administration building with no manufacturing operations.
;Factory 86 (vehicle assembly)
Factory 86 encompasses Buildings 03, 04, 08, 10, 12, 16, 23, 29, 40, 44, and 94, collectively with of space, used for vehicle assembly, testing, and storage.