GM To Import China-Made Buick Envision To The US

The number of Chinese-made cars being sold in the US is set to increase next year, and we are not talking about Chinese brands like Great Wall or BYD, but the star spangled banner General Motors. Starting 2016, GM is expected to sell a China-made Buick Envision in the United States, reports the Wall Street Journal.

If the rumour is true, the Envision will be the first China-made product imported by America’s Big Three – GM, Ford and Chrysler.

The Envision is an all-wheel drive five-seater SUV that’s slightly smaller than a Chevrolet Captiva. It’s powered 1.5-litre turbocharged engine paired to a 7-speed dual clutch transmission. A front-wheel drive model is also available.

The model is currently only sold by Shanghai-GM in China, but it will eventually be sold in Europe under the Opel badge.

The report by the Wall Street Journal suggests that the move to import a China-made Buick is in response to a new contract with its UAW workers union. The new contract is said to drive up the cost of producing vehicles in the US even higher.

Non-Chinese badged China-made cars are nothing new in the US. Volvo Cars is doing brisk sales with its China-made S60 Inscription, essentially a long wheelbase version of the Chinese-market S60L. In neighbouring Canada, the previous generation Honda Jazz (Fit) was imported from China until Honda switched its sourcing to Mexico last year.