Buick made in China

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jake75
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Buick made in China

Post by jake75 »

I am not sure I am ready to buy a Buick made in China - or for that matter made in Russia or perhaps by ISIS in Syria etc.
I was not even aware that the Encore was made in Korea. At least it is South Korea.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/gm-to-impor ... la=y&alg=y

Selected portions of the above:

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.

In the U.S., Buick’s most popular offering is a small crossover called the
Encore that is built in South Korea. GM has used its Korean plants to supply
low-cost vehicles for more than a decade, but lately has been rethinking that
strategy due to rising Korean labor costs.
2009 Vibe 1.8L Carbon Gray AT Power Pkg 1/12/092003 Vibe 1.8L Neptune AT Mono Power Pkg 1/27/03 [sold 2/2/09]2007 T&C SWB 7/31/07 "Broke people stay broke by living like they're rich. Rich people stay rich by living like they're broke."
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vibenvy
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Re: Buick made in China

Post by vibenvy »

:shock:

At least we know our Vibes were built in America!
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Derf
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Re: Buick made in China

Post by Derf »

I still can't get over all the wrangling about buy American from the big three, when Toyota has the highest percentage of domestic parts. Its appears our tariffs and trade laws have put us in the current situation, not to mention GM wanting to look good to the Chinese leadership.

"For 2012, the highest domestic parts content for a single vehicle comes in the Toyota Matrix hatchback. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Matrix hits 95% DPC — a percentage not seen since 2007. But here's the catch: The Matrix isn't even built in the U.S. Toyota assembles the car in Canada. For a variety of reasons, the American Automobile Labeling Act includes Canada as a "domestic" supply source. (That's one reason the AMI uses assembly location as a key determining factor.) Matt Blunt, president of the Detroit Three’s lobbying group, the American Automotive Policy Council, explains: "Canada was included because at the time that AALA went into effect, it would've been very difficult to disentangle what's one of the most integrated bi-national production operations in the world."

And from US News and World Report March 2013:
“American-Made Index recognizes cars that are built here, have a high percentage of domestic parts and are bought in large numbers by American consumers.” The index, made up of 10 vehicles, has five Japanese-branded models that some consumers may automatically disqualify because they are made by a foreign car company. In reality, the Japanese Toyota Camry has ranked number one in the index over the last four years. The Camry is assembled in Kentucky and Indiana and is built with more U.S. parts than any other vehicle based on the index criteria.

Link for looking busy while you are at work :D
http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp ... amMade0712
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Chiadog
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Re: Buick made in China

Post by Chiadog »

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Looks pretty good!
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ctgottapee
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Re: Buick made in China

Post by ctgottapee »

Many moons ago during the re-org, the Buick brand was kept basically for overseas markets, with China being the intended target
I actually like what the brand has done, but I guess they are free to play and take a lot of risks typical GM wouldn't as the brand is dead

Eventually only the trucks will be built here...
Vulcan05
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Re: Buick made in China

Post by Vulcan05 »

"Eventually only the trucks will be built here..."

Check the American content of the Ford, Chevy, Dodge and Toyota trucks. (Yes, I know its officially "Ram". Who cares?)
2010 Vibe. Moon roof, Monsoon, 2.4 engine, 5 speed auto, cruise, dark gray.
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ColonelPanic
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Re: Buick made in China

Post by ColonelPanic »

It was rumored that soon the only Buick models not coming from overseas would be the Enclave and Lacrosse. Verano goes from Lake Orion to China and Regal leaves Oshawa for China or possibly Europe. The new convertible comes from Poland, the Encore from South Korea and now this thing from China.

Not sure the typical Buick customer will be interested in buying a Chinese Buick. However the younger folks they seem to be targeting these days probably do not care where anything they buy was built.

Is it too late to let China have Buick exclusively (where it belongs) and revive Pontiac in its place here? :D
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ctgottapee
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Re: Buick made in China

Post by ctgottapee »

Vulcan05 wrote:"Eventually only the trucks will be built here..."

Check the American content of the Ford, Chevy, Dodge and Toyota trucks. (Yes, I know its officially "Ram". Who cares?)
Yeah the content level has gone down, but the build will still happen here, mainly because that is the only market buying them.
There really isn't a local level for many of the parts going into vehicles nowadays.

VW has long pushed it's build labor in to the eastern block countries and people still pay premium dollars for a Hungarian built Audi.
lannvouivre
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Re: Buick made in China

Post by lannvouivre »

It doesn't really matter where something is built, as long as they are built to the right standards. Sometimes it's fine (KIA and Hyundai are now right behind Toyota in reliability if you go buy Consumer Reports). Sometimes it's a sign that the manufacturer wants to cheap out, and so they set cheap and crappy specifications.
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Re: Buick made in China

Post by Derf »

lannvouivre wrote:It doesn't really matter where something is built, as long as they are built to the right standards.
Thats what concerns me. The Chinese standard is cheap is best. I believe the Chinese GM assembly plant would be up to most industry standards, it is all the suppliers that scare me. Chinese made brake lines, improperly heat treated bearings and castings, Chinese airbag assemblies... these could make the Takata Aribag recall look like a walk in the park. I don't expect anything as bad as the Yugo, at this point the Chinese are way past that.

Just for fun:
http://content.time.com/time/specials/2 ... 29,00.html
Guess where the spare tire was mounted on a Yugo? Hint, engines fires were spectacular...
2005 #10,524 Neptune Vibe "Bandit" Auto, Moon & Tunes 235k :D
1991 Pontiac Bonneville 3.8L "Granny's Whip" 142k (33nd Anniversary :o )
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ctgottapee
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Re: Buick made in China

Post by ctgottapee »

Derf wrote:
lannvouivre wrote:It doesn't really matter where something is built, as long as they are built to the right standards.
Thats what concerns me. The Chinese standard is cheap is best. I believe the Chinese GM assembly plant would be up to most industry standards, it is all the suppliers that scare me. Chinese made brake lines, improperly heat treated bearings and castings, Chinese airbag assemblies... these could make the Takata Aribag recall look like a walk in the park. I don't expect anything as bad as the Yugo, at this point the Chinese are way past that.

Just for fun:
http://content.time.com/time/specials/2 ... 29,00.html
Guess where the spare tire was mounted on a Yugo? Hint, engines fires were spectacular...
The problems is that even if they are 'built' here or not China, because they are chinesed based and that is where the largest market is, the parts are all gonna be Chinese sourced, and as Derf noted, skimping is something they pride themselves on (without a strong IP market, the only thing left to compete on is cost)

I actually prefer my car to not be built in Americana, although the sub part assembly houses are second to only German manufacturing.
lannvouivre
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Re: Buick made in China

Post by lannvouivre »

Skimping on parts quality counts as being NOT to the right standards, for me. I have seen some Chinese parts that were built right (not automotive), so I firmly believe they are entirely capable of producing high-quality products. The problem is, if you're outsourcing to China, you're doing it to cut costs. Ethics over there can often be questionable, which is probably the main reason their prices are so low. If you're willing to cut costs with poor ethics, then you probably don't care about your consumer, either.

I hold on to the hope that China will start caring about human resources more.
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BenWA
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Re: Buick made in China

Post by BenWA »

Yet another reason to hate GM products. Sure, my current (Vibe) and last car (Geo Metro) were GM branded, but they are Japanese designed cars built in the US/Canada to Japanese standards. Heck, the Geo even had a Suzuki logo sticker under the hood. If the Vibe wasn't basically a Toyota, I wouldn't have touched it with a 10 foot pole. GM has been making some of the worst junk in the past 35-40 years. Chrysler making THE worst probably, but GM is a close second.
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jake75
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Re: Buick made in China

Post by jake75 »

Received an email today that the 2016 Envision would be available in the US this summer. I would think hey would introduce that as a 2017 model.
2009 Vibe 1.8L Carbon Gray AT Power Pkg 1/12/092003 Vibe 1.8L Neptune AT Mono Power Pkg 1/27/03 [sold 2/2/09]2007 T&C SWB 7/31/07 "Broke people stay broke by living like they're rich. Rich people stay rich by living like they're broke."
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