It Has Begun! GM to Import Chinese-Made Buick
11-12-2015, 01:56 PM
#1
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It Has Begun! GM to Import Chinese-Made Buick
So remind me again why did we bail out GM? Or everyone agree to UAW's ridiculous contract agreement? And I was so looking forward to $100,000+ Buicks 
GM to Import Chinese-Made Buick SUV - WSJ
...and...
...Really? No one saw this coming? 
GM to Import Chinese-Made Buick SUV - WSJ
General Motors Co. , fresh off agreeing to a new union contract that is expected to drive up its U.S. labor costs, plans to become the first major auto maker to sell Chinese-made cars in the U.S.
The nation’s No. 1 auto maker by sales early next year plans to start selling the Buick Envision, a midsize sport-utility vehicle made in Shandong province, according to people familiar with the plan. The move would add a third SUV to Buick’s U.S. lineup at a time when such crossovers are among the best selling vehicles in the market.
Initially, the company expects to import a modest number—between 30,000 and 40,000—a year. But it signals the beginning of a strategic production shift for the Detroit auto giant and a bold experiment that will be closely followed by other auto companies that have said they would eventually consider such a move.
The nation’s No. 1 auto maker by sales early next year plans to start selling the Buick Envision, a midsize sport-utility vehicle made in Shandong province, according to people familiar with the plan. The move would add a third SUV to Buick’s U.S. lineup at a time when such crossovers are among the best selling vehicles in the market.
Initially, the company expects to import a modest number—between 30,000 and 40,000—a year. But it signals the beginning of a strategic production shift for the Detroit auto giant and a bold experiment that will be closely followed by other auto companies that have said they would eventually consider such a move.
The arrival of Chinese-made Buicks in the U.S. is likely to rile the United Auto Workers union, which has struggled to gain approval from its members for recent labor deals, in part over U.S. production guarantees. This year, union officials won much richer contracts that are expected to undermine those investment decisions and lead Detroit executives to look for lower-cost manufacturing options.
Last edited by LxJLthr; 11-13-2015 at 06:48 AM.
11-12-2015, 02:43 PM
#2
That is going to blow up in their face.
It's going to **** off the american work force. It's going to **** off the potential buyers. There is going to be so much backlash on this it's not even going to be funny.
And the funny thing is... I'd almost guarantee you that these vehicles end up costing nearly as much if not more to produce and ship from china than they would cost to just keep it here. You can not keep eliminating jobs from the economy and expecting people to have money to buy your products.
They're going to spend a crap ton to ship those things back over here. They're going to have losses to deal with. They're going to have quality control issues to deal with. They're going to have theft of trade secrets to deal with. They are going to have a steady increase in the cost of doing business in china to deal with. Not to mention building the facilities to do it.
This is absolutely retarded and very very short sighted.
Anyone that does work with china has seen the trends.
They are being forced to slowly implement epa standards, wages, etc. It's happening slowly but it is happening. As that happens costs of doing business increases. Then you toss in shipping... cost is higher.
I just do not get this. I won't touch one of those vehicles with a 10 foot pole.
Ford is just going smash them to pieces. Hell... if it was me... and I was ford. I'd expand US based production. Open one of the old plants in detroit or something like that... infuse a crap ton of jobs into the economy. Make a huge deal out of it.
That alone will shift a lot of people to ford from GM.
It's going to **** off the american work force. It's going to **** off the potential buyers. There is going to be so much backlash on this it's not even going to be funny.
And the funny thing is... I'd almost guarantee you that these vehicles end up costing nearly as much if not more to produce and ship from china than they would cost to just keep it here. You can not keep eliminating jobs from the economy and expecting people to have money to buy your products.
They're going to spend a crap ton to ship those things back over here. They're going to have losses to deal with. They're going to have quality control issues to deal with. They're going to have theft of trade secrets to deal with. They are going to have a steady increase in the cost of doing business in china to deal with. Not to mention building the facilities to do it.
This is absolutely retarded and very very short sighted.
Anyone that does work with china has seen the trends.
They are being forced to slowly implement epa standards, wages, etc. It's happening slowly but it is happening. As that happens costs of doing business increases. Then you toss in shipping... cost is higher.
I just do not get this. I won't touch one of those vehicles with a 10 foot pole.
Ford is just going smash them to pieces. Hell... if it was me... and I was ford. I'd expand US based production. Open one of the old plants in detroit or something like that... infuse a crap ton of jobs into the economy. Make a huge deal out of it.
That alone will shift a lot of people to ford from GM.
11-12-2015, 02:53 PM
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GM only really sells Buicks in China and has been producing them there since the 1990's. I seem to recall some sort of political issue that GM could only call them Buicks if they were also sold in the US.... don't remember the details, but this is why the Olds division went away and Buick survived.
I'm betting importing this SUV thing has something to do with keeping the Chinese market secure.
I'm betting importing this SUV thing has something to do with keeping the Chinese market secure.
11-12-2015, 03:32 PM
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I think you might be underestimating the value of Buick sales in China. Shipping them here is really not a very big expense when compared to the savings of manufacturing in China, but the 2-3 month wait and potential holdups from the longshoremen may indeed cause issues.
11-12-2015, 04:52 PM
#6
GM only really sells Buicks in China and has been producing them there since the 1990's. I seem to recall some sort of political issue that GM could only call them Buicks if they were also sold in the US.... don't remember the details, but this is why the Olds division went away and Buick survived.
I'm betting importing this SUV thing has something to do with keeping the Chinese market secure.
I'm betting importing this SUV thing has something to do with keeping the Chinese market secure.
They build them and sell them there. But now they're going to import a few so they can continue to sell them in china. That makes a hell of a lot more sense. It's a massive market and it's the only market for Buick.
It's like companies creating a car and selling it on the market only so they can run a car in nascar or some crap. They aren't selling the car in that market to make money... it's just to meet a criteria to do something else.
That makes sense.
Moving manufacturing from here to there to sell cars back here... that makes no sense.
11-13-2015, 09:08 AM
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The article also mentions that the new four year contract will move less-profitable passenger cars now built in the U.S. to Mexico factories. It sounds like UAW are picking and choosing what they want to be accountable/associated with. So they probably won't have issues with oversees productions as long as it does not concern their cash cows. Win-win for them when it comes to negotiating for more increases.
Which leads to the bigger question what will happen in 4 years when UAW will extort another record high contract for their employees? I think the issue of labor cost vs. sustainable market price is coming to a head. It is a rock and a hard place situation. Do you keep production stateside but price yourself out of the market...or...cut costs with oversees productions in hopes added warranty and PR costs don't outweigh the benefits.
And from my limited single data point experience (which means sh*t), I had back-to-back US-made 2016 Chrysler 300C Premium and Chinese-made 2016 Volvo V60 Cross Country rentals. In that pair, guess which one felt like a chintzy bucket of bolts? I am sorry, but China has the whole manufacturing thing down to a science and with proper supervision and oversight there won't be any issues...problems always seem to come from sub-sub-sub-contracting manufacturing with zero regard for direct oversight. Of course the inmates will run the asylum regardless of location.
And again for the record, I am not defending upper management, engineers, designers or marketers. They have their own issues.
Which leads to the bigger question what will happen in 4 years when UAW will extort another record high contract for their employees? I think the issue of labor cost vs. sustainable market price is coming to a head. It is a rock and a hard place situation. Do you keep production stateside but price yourself out of the market...or...cut costs with oversees productions in hopes added warranty and PR costs don't outweigh the benefits.
And from my limited single data point experience (which means sh*t), I had back-to-back US-made 2016 Chrysler 300C Premium and Chinese-made 2016 Volvo V60 Cross Country rentals. In that pair, guess which one felt like a chintzy bucket of bolts? I am sorry, but China has the whole manufacturing thing down to a science and with proper supervision and oversight there won't be any issues...problems always seem to come from sub-sub-sub-contracting manufacturing with zero regard for direct oversight. Of course the inmates will run the asylum regardless of location.
And again for the record, I am not defending upper management, engineers, designers or marketers. They have their own issues.
Last edited by LxJLthr; 11-13-2015 at 09:23 AM.
11-13-2015, 09:54 AM
#8
In that pair, guess which one felt like a chintzy bucket of bolts? I am sorry, but China has the whole manufacturing thing down to a science and with proper supervision and oversight there won't be any issues...problems always seem to come from sub-sub-sub-contracting manufacturing with zero regard for direct oversight..
It is quite bonkers
11-16-2015, 02:32 PM
#11
11-16-2015, 03:21 PM
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Isn't the new Z06 Corvette with desirable interior and performance options deep into $100,000s? Local dealer had an optioned out non-Z06 on display and I think that one was also ~$70k @.@
11-16-2015, 06:50 PM
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Whoa Whoa Whoa... there's a big difference between a truck and an SUV
My Ram 2015 4x4 1500 Laramie (company vehicle) was ~ $52K MSRP. It's the highest option package you can buy.
You can get a less optioned one for ~ $26K
My Ram 2015 4x4 1500 Laramie (company vehicle) was ~ $52K MSRP. It's the highest option package you can buy.
You can get a less optioned one for ~ $26K
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