UAW Opposes Chinese Built Buick Envision Crossover

Automotive News (subscription required), citing industry analysts, reports that if the Envision does make it to the U.S., the vehicle would almost certainly be imported from China.

UAW’s Estrada dubbed the reports “especially alarming” and called on GM to “stand by its declaration that it will build where it sells”.

“The Envision should be made in the US by the workforce that saved GM in its darkest time, and UAW members intend to address this issue in contract talks”.

A Buick spokesman said stories regarding the Envision are speculative.

One person familiar with automakers’ confidential product plans said Buick wants to fill that gap in its lineup by the end of 2016. Since GM’s 2009 bankruptcy and restructuring, the Detroit automaker has been investing heavily in reviving interest in Buick among U.S. buyers, and the Envision would be a good fit for that.

Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders have assailed U.S. political leaders for giving China the upper hand on trade.

But car sales are slowing in China, where the Detroit-based carmaker has installed a huge production base over the past decade.

So far Buick is keeping tight-lipped on any plans to sell the Envision in the U.S., but we may get word at a major auto show sometime next year.

GM sold 57,413 Envision units in China in the first half of this year alone. The Envision would slot between the subcompact Encore and large Enclave SUV. “It’ll be a nice boost for Buick in a popular segment of the U.S. market”. 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.

And GM, along with Ford Motor and Fiat Chrysler, is in contract negotiations with the United Auto Workers union.

GM has already said it will launch an as-yet unnamed vehicle at its Orion Township assembly plant in Michigan.

But even if GM does start to export Chinese cars to the U.S., that won’t necessarily be opening the door to Chinese cars flooding the market here, said Brinley. “I don’t think this means U.S. consumers will be more inclined to accept a Chinese automaker”. Most people don’t even know where the cars come from.