The United Auto Workers union blasted General Motors for considering exporting a vehicle from China to the U.S., adding a fresh layer of tension to ongoing contract negotiations.

The UAW issued a statement on Tuesday questioning GM after reports that the automaker may export the Buick Envision from a plant in the Shandong province southeast of Beijing to U.S. dealerships.

The union's move serves as an indicator that assembly of the compact crossover could become a bargaining chip in contract talks.

“After the sacrifices made by U.S. taxpayers and the U.S. workforce to make General Motors the profitable quality company it is today, UAW members are disappointed with the tone-deaf speculation that the Envision would be imported from China," said Cindy Estrada, UAW's vice president in charge of GM talks.

If GM gives the plant the green light, it would become the first major automaker to sell a China-made vehicle in the U.S. Analysts say quality is on par with U.S.-made vehicles and don't expect a backlash among consumers, although a political backlash is a very real possibility.

Estrada dubbed the reports "especially alarming" and called on GM to "stand by its declaration that it will build where it sells."

The statement comes about a month before a UAW deadline to reach new contracts with hourly workers at U.S. plants for GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler.

"The Envision should be made in the U.S. by the workforce that saved GM in its darkest time and UAW members intend to address this issue in contract talks," Estrada said.

Buick spokesman Nick Richards said Monday that talk of the Envision coming from China to the U.S. is speculation. But he acknowledged that GM is "looking at all the opportunities" for the vehicle.

"It’s our practice to build where we sell. In every business aspect it makes the most sense," Richards said. "That’s what we strive to do in every vehicle and every case. Nothing’s changed in that regard."

Analysts told USA TODAY on Monday that they expect GM to begin exporting the Envision from China to the U.S. by late 2016.

GM is expected to sell about 129,000 units of the Envision in China in 2017, according to IHS Automotive forecasts. In the U.S., where the vehicle is currently not available for sale, the company is expected to sell about 35,000 units in 2017, IHS projects.

Because volume is so much higher in China, where Buick is four times more popular than in the U.S., it may not make economic sense to assemble the vehicle in two different plants, analysts said.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...port/31906129/

 

Just wait till Trump hears about this

 

I guess that speaks to where they will build it.

 

Nonsense like this is why I can never take unions seriously.

 

Most of Buick's future U.S. cars may come from overseas
Reuters
46 minutes ago



DETROIT (Reuters) - Most Buick vehicles sold in the United States after 2016 could be imported from China and Europe, according to two sources familiar with parent General Motors Co's plans.

Only two of Buick's future U.S. models, replacements for the mid-size LaCrosse sedan and the large Enclave crossover, are expected to be built in North America, according to the sources, who did not want to be identified because their companies work with GM.

The increasing tendency of U.S. carmakers, including Ford Motor Co, to shift more vehicle production to plants outside the United States is a hot-button topic in current contract talks with the United Auto Workers.

"We do not comment on future product speculation," a Buick spokesman said on Tuesday.

Buick is planning to shift production of the compact Verano sedan from Michigan to China in late 2016, the sources said. Production of the mid-size Regal sedan is likely to shift from Canada to either China or Europe in 2017, they added.



Buick is also planning to add two new U.S. models from overseas plants: The compact Cascada convertible, which will be imported early next year from Europe, and the compact Envision crossover, which will be imported from China in late 2016.

News of the U.S. arrival of the Envision, which went into production last year in China, was reported on Monday by Automotive News. Buick unveiled the Cascada earlier this year at the Detroit auto show.

One other Buick model, the subcompact Encore crossover, is currently imported from Korea. Production is eventually expected to shift to China, the sources said.

Buick is planning these production shifts as GM begins contract talks in Detroit with the United Auto Workers.

In Detroit, Cindy Estrada, head of the UAW's GM department, said the automaker would be "tone deaf" to import vehicles from overseas "after the sacrifices by U.S. taxpayers," as well as union concessions, to create a profitable GM after a government-funded bailout in 2009.

The LaCrosse is being redesigned next spring, with production moving to Hamtramck outside Detroit.

The Enclave is slated to be redesigned in early 2017. Production is expected to remain in Lansing, Michigan.

China is the largest market for the Buick brand, with sales last year of 919,582 vehicles, more than four times the 228,963 vehicles that Buick sold in the United States.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclus...200409953.html

 

This is exactly why Ford didn't want a bailout. They didn't need it as their product line up was being refreshed and they didn't want to be hamstrung to political, union and public pressure.

The gov made good to bail out GM and Chrysler, eventually sold the shares at a profit and each company paid back their debts ahead of terms. The companies now should get to make independent decisions that make business sense not politics.

 

GM was $11B short.
TARP helped with that.



http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmul...ound-any-more/

 

He'll bump 10 points in the polls.

 

fixed.

 

In all honesty, both the unions and the corporate minions where equally at fault. When yo take sub par chassis and repackage them for every product, including your premium ones, customer are bound to notice eventually. Most importantly, it showed management didn't care so it eventually translated to workers that didn't care either.

 

Agreed. If GM had maintained 40-50% market share and remained profitable, paying the union workers a solid middle class wage would have never been a problem.

As for Chinese Buicks coming to the US, it was inevitable and I'm surprised its taken this long when you consider how many more they sell over there vs here in the us.

 

While I believe unions are way past their usefulness in employee protections, I agree that management shares blame in where the traditional US carmakers ended up. Prior to foreign competition in the lower and mid markets, principally from Toyota, Datsun (Nissan), and Honda, management just caved to union demands and raised prices to cover the added costs. Can't continue to do that against cheaper and higher quality competition.

 

Evils vs Devils........this is interesting. Unions is there to protect lazy & inefficient worker. They promote unethical work practice.

 

The Chinese market has somewhat reach its limit due to the slow down economy. Time to export in order to keep the production line running.

 

But what is the cause and what is the effect?

The problem is that union workers (especially past union workers, including retirees) were receiving total compensation far in excess of what the middle class receives. So it's no surprise that GM was unable to remain profitable or maintain market share.