Buick Marquette - 1930
Buick’s short-lived Marquette brand was one more puzzle piece in the General Motors companion makes program, in which CEO Alfred P. Sloan sought to position a GM brand on every perceptible rung of the pricing ladder. Each companion make was paired with an established GM brand: LaSalle with Cadillac, Pontiac with Oakland, Viking with Oldsmobile, and Marquette with Buick. Pontiac was far and away the most successful of the companion makes, eventually replacing its Oakland parent division. The Marquette, meanwhile, which was intended to slot in below Buick and Viking but above Oldsmobile in the price heirarchy, was the least successful. It was produced for only a single model year. (The Marquette name itself dated back to Buick’s early days, but that’s a story for another time.)
Buick Marquette - 1930
Buick’s short-lived Marquette brand was one more puzzle piece in the General Motors companion makes program, in which CEO Alfred P. Sloan sought to position a GM brand on every perceptible rung of the pricing ladder. Each companion make was paired with an established GM brand: LaSalle with Cadillac, Pontiac with Oakland, Viking with Oldsmobile, and Marquette with Buick. Pontiac was far and away the most successful of the companion makes, eventually replacing its Oakland parent division. The Marquette, meanwhile, which was intended to slot in below Buick and Viking but above Oldsmobile in the price heirarchy, was the least successful. It was produced for only a single model year. (The Marquette name itself dated back to Buick’s early days, but that’s a story for another time.)