GM is a very "silo"ized company. Each one of their brand divisions operates (or used to, at least) with a large degree of engineering and production independence. Even as late as the 1990s, every one of GM’s major US divisions (Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac) all had different non-interchangable engines, transmission options, drivelines/axles, even had dedicated manufacturing and assembly plants. Really quite a mess. As such, despite GM’s drive to have a more “unified” corporate lineup, there can still be wild variances between their different brands in terms of build quality and mechanical reliability.
So I looked into this a bit more. Buick only has 4 models currently and 2 dont have a Cadillac equivalent. 2 models do have a Cadillac equivalent but 1 of those two models is assembled at a different factory. Leaving only 1 model that shares a platform and assembly location (XT6/Enclave).
How is there such a big gap between Buick, Chevy, and Cadillac?
GM is a very "silo"ized company. Each one of their brand divisions operates (or used to, at least) with a large degree of engineering and production independence. Even as late as the 1990s, every one of GM’s major US divisions (Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac) all had different non-interchangable engines, transmission options, drivelines/axles, even had dedicated manufacturing and assembly plants. Really quite a mess. As such, despite GM’s drive to have a more “unified” corporate lineup, there can still be wild variances between their different brands in terms of build quality and mechanical reliability.
AFAIK, today every model has an equivalent model for at least one of the other brands. Except for the Corvette, I can’t think of any others.
So I looked into this a bit more. Buick only has 4 models currently and 2 dont have a Cadillac equivalent. 2 models do have a Cadillac equivalent but 1 of those two models is assembled at a different factory. Leaving only 1 model that shares a platform and assembly location (XT6/Enclave).