It’s a hot topic among the automotive community as of recent. Buick will import the 2016 Buick Envision to North America from a Chinese manufacturing facility, and forego building the upcoming midsize luxury crossover in the United States.
This has upset certain groups, including the United Auto Workers union but, as Buick has stated, it made the decision to import the crossover from its home market simply because it’s going to sell more there.
As The Detroit Free Press also reaffirms, the 2016 Envision is different enough from the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain that it would make production alongside those two quite difficult. And, those facilities are already at capacity, pumping out crossovers for Americans to scoop up all day long.
Buick is a major global brand. The brand expects to sell 40,000 to 50,000 Envisions in North America for a year. In China? The number is more like 150,000 units. Frankly, it only makes sense to keep production where the vehicle will sell most, and import to a smaller market.
Why is this good for Buick? Because the brand desperately needs this crossover amid hot sales in the market. And each 2016 Envision sold means bigger and better things for the brand to invest into in the future.
Comments
Of course its going to sell more over there, because once People here find out where its made, they ain’t gonna buy it here in North America
Yeah, same shit happened to iPhone!
I’m sorry, but since the term “Quality Control” seems to be missing from Chinese lexicon, I predict this thing will be more problematic than an old Yugo or a new hoverboard. I wouldn’t even rent one, let alone buy/lease one. Pity the folks that do.
The Chinese are not controlling things in a GM plant. GM will make sure that quality control is as good as a vehicle built anywhere else. Hell, it’s quite possible they have someone from their North American operations overseeing the quality control there already. The Chinese employees can be taught the exact same processes; it’s not like they’re un-teachable.
http://jalopnik.com/gm-just-lost-its-fourth-quality-chief-in-less-than-four-1748137191
“Import” isn’t so bad if we are talking about from Europe like the Buick Regal or Buick Cascada. But importing from China is a different story. Working in manufacturing, I am well aware that the words “China” and “quality” are not synonymous. And even if the assembly work is OK, what are the supplier sources? Probably Chinese also. To me that is problematic. Maybe the GM quality management system has factored all of this in. I guess we will see.
I completely agree with this article when I saw it in the original in the Detroit Free Press over the weekend.
Bringing in the vehicle from China is the only thing that makes an economical sense right now. The volume would be to low in the first year to line up supplier and production capacity when there is already a plant producing them than can spit out an extra 40-50000 units without much effort.
When the mechanically similar Equinox and Terrain begin production then adding another 60-75000 units for the Envision becomes viable. At that time they will add FWD and a less expensive engine option.
Some of that production will likely come out of the Ingersoll Ontario plant which last time I checked also wasn’t in America.
I do not see the Envision production for NA being from China for long.
Buick’s CUV’s are cheesy looking
It may make sense in terms of efficiency, but it could very well be a public relations disaster where stateside perception and sales are concerned.