Are Americans Ready to Buy a Car Made in China?

GM may import the Buick Envision next year
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 18, 2015 6:45 PM CDT
Are Americans Ready to Buy a Car Made in China?
GM could start selling the Chinese-made Buick Envision, seen here at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition in 2012, in the United States next year.   (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)

Will US consumers buy a car made in China? General Motors may be about to find out as the company mulls importing its Buick Envision from China, where more than 57,000 of the "compact crossovers" were sold in the first half of this year, Automotive News reports. A GM spokesperson says the Envision was "extremely well-received" in China, where it's manufactured, and Mike Colias writes that if GM brings it to the US as expected next year, "it would almost certainly be imported" from there. While GM won't officially comment on the possibility, the company says it is "looking at all the opportunities" for the car.

The UAW released a statement today calling GM's consideration of selling Chinese-made cars in the United States "tone deaf" and "especially alarming," reports USA Today. "The Envision should be made in the US by the workforce that saved GM in its darkest time," says the union, which is currently trying to reach a new deal with GM before its current one expires next month. And while politicians might worry about the US losing its economic edge to China, an industry analyst cited by Automotive News doesn't believe there's much difference in consumers' minds between a car made in Detroit versus one made over there. After all, they're used to their iPhones and other tech toys coming from China. (More economy stories.)

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