GM to sell Chinese-made cars in the United States: WSJ report

General Motors (NYSE:GM) reportedly will become the first major automaker to sell Chinese-made vehicles in the U.S. The No. 1 USA automaker plans to begin selling China-made Buicks – a popular auto in China – in the US early next year, with initial imports of 30,000-40,000 vehicles a year, sources told the Wall Street Journal.

According to GM officials, importing Buick Envision would fill the gap in its product line and it’s not a technique to cut its operational cost.

The UAW has agreed a tentative four-year labor contract with GM and is pushing members to ratify it.

GM declined to comment on the Journal report.

After all the chaos that was the UAW strike, General Motors is ready to move forward.

By this move, GM will add third SUV to Buick’s U.S. vehicle range at the time when such crossovers dominates the market due to cheaper gasoline prices and higher demand for gasoline-guzzling pickups.

Today in the US, Buick sells the Enclave crossover, assembled near Lansing, and the Encore subcompact crossover, imported from South Korea, but also made in Mexico and Spain. But auto sales are slowing in China, where GM has installed a huge production base over the past decade.

GM shares approached Friday’s close on Wall Street down 77 cents, or 2.2%, to $34.32 US, in a 52-week trading range of $24.62 U.S.to $39.00 U.S. Much of the growth in both markets has been concentrated in small and midsize SUVs and crossovers. They increased in October after the government reduced a sales tax.

However, GM may be setting the stage for other automakers to import Chinese-made vehicles.