GM document shows automaker plans to sell China-built cars to U.S. consumers

NYSpeed Automotive
1

i saw this on another forum. i havnt seen it here yet, but hopefully its not a repost.

heres a quote.
A planning document given to lawmakers by General Motors reportedly shows that the Detroit-based automaker plans to ship 17,335 autos from China for sale in the U.S. in 2011. If GM succeeds in importing vehicles to the U.S. from China, it could be the first automaker to do so.

The document doesn’t show which vehicle would be brought over from the land of the Great Wall (we’d take the Buick Regal, above), but it does provide GM’s volume plans through 2014. By that time, GM plans to triple its China to U.S. exports to 51,546 units. While 51,546 sounds like a lot of cars, it only represents 1.6% of the planned 3.1 million (perhaps optimistic) sales the General is expecting five years from now.

Regardless of the quantity of vehicles coming in from China, union leaders are none too pleased with the development, says Automotive News. The 12-page document also showed increased production in Mexico, with annual units rising from 317,763 in 2010 to 501,316 in 2014. South Korea, which will likely make new vehicles like the Chevrolet Spark, will increase production from 36,967 in 2010 to 157,126 in 2014. In an open letter, UAW legislative director Alan Reuther has gone on record saying that GM “should not be taking taxpayers’ money simply to finance the outsourcing of jobs to other countries.”

While many would expect the U.S. to be the big loser here, virtually all of the related production loss occurs in Canada. According to the 12-page document, U.S. production would continue to represent two thirds of the overall sales volume for the next five years, while Canada is slated to lose 101,000 units.

2

No surprise there. They’ve had a Chinese engine plant for a while (see Chevy Equinox.) The whole car was only a matter of time. Manufacturing’s just so much cheaper there. I wouldn’t buy one though. Chinese quality, in general, is still shit.

3

Who knows. I mean, iPods are Made in China. So are a majority of the boards in computers. It all depends on the underlying engineering.

Personally, it might be the one way GM gets to give the finger to the UAW - that is, unless Obama personally puts the kaibosh on that - even though they said that they would be “hands off” in terms of corporate management (yea, right.)

4

This came out a week or two ago. And posted here:
http://nyspeed.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1372388&postcount=495

So GM sells a couple million cars a year in the US and they are going to make 17,335 of them in China.
And this is news worthy?
What is the difference between GM or Ford building cars in Canada or Mexico and selling them in the US, why is China so different?

GM sells a lot of cars, mainly Buicks, in China so why not build cars there. Plus it is one of GM’s only growth areas
“General Motors Corp said on Wednesday its China sales in March rose 24.6% from a year earlier to 137,004 vehicles”
http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/08/news/companies/gm_china.reut/

5

If they aren’t building that many over in china, this doesn’t really matter.

If they start building the majoirty of their cars their, that will be retarded since the bailout kept them alive to try and keep jobs HERE.

6

Canada actually requires a safe work environment.

And wages in Mexico need to be kept low to prevent people from seeking legitimate employment rather than smuggling drugs to the United States.

¡olè!

7

safe to say “import” cars are getting more domestic than “american” cars? :gotme:

8

A lot already are.

You’d be surprised at the percentages for how much of a car is built here. The Toyota Sienna is %87 while the Ford Mustang is somewhere in the 60’s IIRC.

9

Big Wig says “ou ou i know, lets have china make all the cars so we can save money and then sell them to the US”

Little Guys says “but sir, if China makes the cars now, millions of jobs will be lost here”

BW “but were saving money!”

LG “no one will have jobs which means no one will have money to buy these cars, soo…”

BW “but saving money is like making money. WE CAN MAKE MILLIONS”

end of world