My Acura is 75% US. The engine is Japanese but the rest is from Ohio. Apparently my Pontiac is also 75% US but not sure what parts came from where.
A few years ago though I remember seeing an article on the actual cars being made in China. I don’t remember which anymore but they were virtual knock-offs of other popular cars around the planet but with weird names. Whoever did the reviews didn’t have much good to say about the materials or workmanship though. Just like some of the power tools that look just like the real thing but only last a couple hours.
Maybe GM has got a better handle on maintaining quality in their plants and using their machine tools, I don’t know. I still do not like the idea of taking advantage of cheap labor and non-existent environmental controls to bring them back here to sell. I’m a little disappointed in GM.
“Just like some of the power tools that look just like the real thing but only last a couple hours.”
Sounds like you’re describing harbor fake
A few years ago, I watched a colleague doing some suspension work. The harbor fake tools snapped in half. It was hard for me to NOT laugh. I let him borrow my proper tools. The tools did not break, and he quickly got the job done
As for those Chinese-built GM suvs . . . I wonder how the workers building those suvs will be treated.
Will they even be GM employees . . . ?!
One thing’s almost certain . . . they will not be allowed to be part of any labor union
This is a slight exaggeration, but the workplace atmosphere will probably be very much like the one portrayed in the movie “Elysium”
No, they aren’t GM employees, they are SAIC employees. SAIC Motors builds GM cars in a joint venture in China. Yulong does the same in Taiwan (the Other China).
As for labor unions; the great workers from the People Republic of China are represented by the Peoples Republic of China so they don’t need labor unions, wink wink, nudge nudge, wink, wink!
I must say China is an “interesting” combination of communism, capitalism, and corruption/cronyism
Probably combining the worst elements of each
I have an acquaintance who works in China. He comes back every so often to visit. He said, as far as business is concerned, you can’t get anything done unless you grease somebody’s palm
he says all the small mom and pop shops are just eking out a living, despite working hard and putting in long hours. He says one of the reasons for their low standard of living is because they have to pay so much money in bribes, just to retain their business “license” or whatever you call it
After GM left their partners and dealers high n’ dry when they went through bankruptcy, I vowed to not buy a GM car, even a used one. That they will be selling out even more by importing Chinese cars, which have a long way to go to meet even the quality of… well normal GM cars, I stand by that.
Re. the “Donald”, would you even want such an utter grandstanding, tactless, and apparently merciless fool for a friend, much less the leader of our nation? Whether he’s just pandering to the unwashed masses or truly believes in his rhetoric, I consider him a worse choice than Bozo the Clown that ran some years back, and I believe Bozo has passed on by now. Trump is proof that you neither have to be mature nor particularly intelligent to get rich, if you kick off from the backs of those you’ve left in the mud. I fully expect that if Trump gets elected that his first move would be to start creating Horcruxes if one of his toadies can figure out if it’s possible. (apologies to Harry Potter fans)
I believe I mentioned GM in my post. Sorry if the political comment bothered you, but I so detest the man that it’s difficult to keep quiet when someone brings him up. I don’t seem to recall you reminding the person(s) that brought up the matter that this was a car forum?
Oblivion, I’m sorry to hear that you’re carrying that much hate and anger around. It isn’t healthy.
I suspect there’s a lot more commerce going on than we realize between us and China already. The auto industry being one of the most global industries in the world, it seems to me that the import of cars manufactured in China is inevitable. It’s a logical extension of what’s already happening.
Not to be redundant, but if I were in the market for a new car and some company had one that had developed a reputation of reliability for a lot less than their competitors I’d buy it. It would be a repeat of my first Toyota purchase in 1976. I’m guess that millions of potential buyers would probably do the same thing… just as they did with Honda and Toyota 40+ years ago.
IMHO the auto industry has evolved to where the old “buy American” philosophy is really moot. GM isn’t GM anymore. At least not the GM I grew up with.
Not to be redundant, but if I were in the market for a new car and some company had one that had developed a reputation of reliability for a lot less than their competitors I'd buy it. It would be a repeat of my first Toyota purchase in 1976.
Glad to hear you had such a good experience. My dad owned an early Toyota--had to be a '70's model--and he claimed you could actually sit and watch it rust.
On the other hand, the difference in the quality and reliability of my '76 Toyota and my '72 Vega was truly dramatic. The Toyota taught me how a car SHOULD be built. The Vega taught the whole country how a car should NOT be built. Huge difference.
Interesting that in this months issue of Motor Trend they talk about previous awards given. The Vega was one of them. Can’t believe anyone anymore.
I too remember seeing those fenders flapping in the breeze from the Japanese imports. Yes now their quality is now very good. But that’s the whole issue with China. They now have a reputation for not being trusted for quality, or materials, etc. Not that they can’t or don’t produce some quality products, but the problem is you never know. Its a matter of not being able to “rely” on what they produce. Ask the Pentagon if computer components for jet fighters can be relied on-nope? You never know until in a fire fight.
So in my view, China is not ready for prime time. Maybe in 20-30 years they will have learned that reputation and reliability are foremost to business. Some of you still complain about the Vega nearly 50 years later. How long will it take to have faith in Chinese cars? Will we have any idea of the quality of the steel used, the heat treating, the upholstery materials and what’s under the surface? So regardless of their obvious stealing of patents, cyber crime, passing off defective products as quality, and under-cutting quality US labor with sweat shops, their products are simply not to be trusted at this point.
So regardless of price (versus cost?) I won’t be buying any Chinese Buicks for a while and remain disappointed in GM.
I too remember seeing those fenders flapping in the breeze from the Japanese imports.
The Japanese imports until the mid 80’s had some real rust issue problems. Mechanically they were far superior then any comparable vehicle any of the US manufacturers had…but they rusted out very badly. the rust proofing companies (Ziebart) were making millions. If the rust proofing was properly done those Japanese cars lasted a long long long time. In the 80’s…things changed…and they didn’t rust out nearly as much…and rust even less now - with few exceptions.
“…and what he is suggesting is illegal, unconstitutional, and eerily similar to policies put into effect in Germany in the 1930s.”
Y’all need to look better at history. Jimmy Carter did the same thing to Iran.
I don’t like this nonsense. Someone dumps in a political remark, and if we answer back correctly the thread is going to be closed. Please keep your political views out of this!!!
I would like to remind you that a few years ago, a company was selling Chinese cars in Mexico, about two hours from my home. I happened to be there, and walked in and looked at them.
THE CARS HAD TOYOTA LICENSED MOTORS IN THEM.
That is not a trivial point. It shows the Chinese company knew what it had to do to sell a car. And, in the case of Buick, I expect GM to use the same logic. I have been wrong before and expect to be wrong again, but that is my opinion.
I do think it is a good idea to wait a year or two, as you do on any new model. But, I predict they will put out a good car in the future, just as Korea did soon enough.
I’m inclined to agree, irlandes, but I would expect a long learning curve. The bar they need to reach to be competitive is a lot higher now than it was 50 years ago… although learning curves with modern technology are, admittedly, far faster.
If the Chinese-built GM suv were proven to be reliable, and the price were competitive, would you still buy it, knowing that the assembly line workers were probably not treated very well overall, versus their american counterparts?
As we’ve already said, the chinese workers will certainly not be represented by a union
Were I shopping for a new car . . . I think it would matter to me
I’ll go off-topic
From what I read, the Mexican auto industry is extremely robust. They’ve long built cars that are sold in the US and are considered very good, such as the Ford Fusion. For that matter, a lot of our GM fleet trucks are built in Mexico. And the quality is identical to the ones build in USA and Canada
And I also read that the auto manufacturing jobs in Mexico are considered very good jobs, and people are moving near the factories, so they can try to get hired
I think, for the time being, I’d rather buy a reliable us-spec car built in Mexico, versus a reliable us-spec car built in China
By the way, I have no idea if Mexican auto assembly line workers, in general, are unionized
@db4690 . . . “would you still buy it, knowing that the assembly line workers were probably not treated very well overall,”. . . well, people stand in line for days every 6 months or so to buy the newest iPhone, and those workers get treated so badly that the factory installed “suicide nets” under the factory windows because apparently the workers would get so fed up they’d bolt from their stations and jump out the window.
As far as the Chinese auto workers not being represented by a Union, I suppose they might end up being represented by a “union” in the same sense that Walmart in China recognized the “union”. The “union” in reality being a fundraising arm of the Communist Party - raising funds via collecting union dues from everyone’s paycheck.
