General Motors’ Buick division is moving forward on plans to bring a Chinese-made vehicle to the U.S. market.
A version of the Buick Envision already on sale in China, the compact crossover is expected to go on sale here by late 2016, according to a Wall Street Journal report. That would make GM only the second manufacturer to import a vehicle from China.
The booming Asian market – which is just rebounding from an unusual slump – is the largest outlet in the world for Buick, and GM now sells more vehicles in China than in the U.S. But as the market slows from years of high double-digit growth, the Detroit maker is looking to find other opportunities for the production capacity it has set up in Shanghai and other cities.
(China’s car sales surge in October, reversing a sharp slump. Click Here for the latest.)
Buick isn’t talking about its plans for Envision, perhaps in part because it is trying to wrap up negotiations with the United Auto Workers Union on a four-year contract. That agreement was ratified by line workers but rejected last week by higher-paid skilled trades employees. The union previously issued a statement blasting plans to import the Envision.
Such a move could also prove a political hot potato as the U.S. presidential election heats up. Ford took a drubbing from GOP front-runner Donald Trump earlier this year when it announced plans to move production of several small vehicles from a Michigan plant to a new facility in Mexico.
(Buick named one of top brands for auto reliability by Consumer Reports. Click Here for more.)
GM now has the capability to produce millions of vehicles in China, and it is still expecting that market to grow substantially in the years ahead. But it appears to be betting it will have a little more capacity than it needs there – and that its Chinese lines can produce a vehicle like the Envision at a lower cost than its U.S. plants, especially in light of the wage and benefits increased included in the new UAW contract.
Adding the Envision would mark a major step forward for Buick, a once-proud brand that many thought GM would abandon as it emerged from bankruptcy. Instead, the maker cast off the Hummer, Pontiac, Saturn and Saab marques.
At the time GM came out from under Chapter 11 protection, it had only three models in the Buick line. That has been growing, largely on the crossover side, though it has also just added the Cascada convertible and will reveal a complete remake of its LaCrosse sedan at the Los Angeles Auto Show next week.
Some sources suggest the Buick Envision could make its public debut in January at the North American International Auto Show, but Buick is not yet revealing plans for that event.
(Click Here to see what’s coming to the 2015 LA Auto Show.)
If GM moves ahead, the Buick Envision would target a relatively new but fast-growing segment of the market. Honda has shown there is strong potential for compact crossovers with its new HR-X, and a variety of other makers, both mainstream and luxury, are entering the fray.
The Buick Envision would not have bragging rights as the first Chinese-made car to reach the American market. That title goes to the Inscription, a new, long-wheelbase version of the Volvo S60 which began crossing the Pacific earlier this year.
Hopefully U.S. consumers will just say “NO” to Chinese import cars that lower the standard of living for U.S. citizens with the exception of the unscrupulous executives who profit from essentially using slave labor and exporting U.S. jobs.
This is a perfect example of an imported product that should have a 40+% import duty so that we have a level playing field for all manufacturers and importers. Then U.S. jobs would return and Chinese imports would drop. The U.S. would have a more stable economy and stable employment, while the execs suffer through with only a few million dollars in annual bonuses on top of their base multi-million dollar compensation packages and platinum parachutes used when they run the company into bankruptcy.
See Marchionne as an example of an exec getting reportedly $20 Million annually for his excellent business acumen. For such trivial compensation he’s killing FCA by canceling new models and updates due to FCA’s cash poor situation Marchionne created. Now Marchionne is desperately looking for someone to buy FCA, aka “merge” with FCA. While Marchionne lives quite well he agreed to a double standard pay scale for production workers in the latest UAW contract where new hires barely get more than McDonald’s restaurant employees who get $15/hr. in some locales.
You can expect a lot of FCA employees to lose their jobs in the next 3-5 years regardless if they merge or not. Using Fiat products instead of producing them in the U.S. is part of what has hurt FCA’s chances of survival. For his excellent business leadership of FCA Sergio Marchionne was appointed CEO of Ferrari while FCA and Fiat are about to financially collapse.
Put GM AND buick ON THE I HATE America more than I love profit list- I hope they go broke with their commie car – so now we compete directly with the Chinese communist government along with the Korean and jap goverments
So this is how you thank the American People for pulling you out of your financial crisis….I am originally from Detroit…my family (and myself) have purchased Buick,Chevy, GM products most or our lives….I come from an Automotive family background from Detroit……if you do this (and its obvious those are your plans) it should be apparent to most of Americans….that in bailing you out of your financial dilemma, your plans are to place Americans in the same light….don’t expect future automotive purchases from you in our future…..you’ve ruined the industry enough…now, you plan on trying to ruin America even further…….
Not to take anyone’s side, but you folks did note the huge financial commitment for new US-made products GM locked into its new contract with the UAW?
Paul E.
Paul, good luck with that logic thing.
It’s easy to cherry pick a few forced decisions by the UAW that retain some short term U.S. jobs while the unscrupulous CEOs continue to export U.S. jobs and lower the standard of living for the masses in the U.S. Considering GM and the Feds screwed U.S. tax payers royal on the bailout loans, it’s no surprise GM would add insult to injury by importing Chinese products to the U.S.
Thankfully at the moment U.S. consumers have a choice. They can vote with their wallet and send Chinese products back to China or watch the U.S. sink deeper in debt while the standard of living for the working class falls. This is one more reason why the proposed TPP trade treaty is unacceptable as much more crap will be imported to the U.S. instead of producing quality products within the U.S.
I’m a Chevy/GM guy to the bone. I own 4, 2011 and newer currently. If these @>&&&&&’s import this stuff, I’m through with GM. “Be American, buy American; Be American, drive American”
Everyone complains about falling earnings and standard of living, yet they buy imported products. By the way I detest unions, but I’ll support them before I’ll support China!