(WWJ) GM says it will shift production of a small Buick SUV from China to the U.S.
The Buick Envision had been one of only a few Chinese made vehicles sold in the U.S. market. GM says its replacement will be made in Kansas.
“General Motors will onshore production of the next generation Buick compact SUV to Fairfax, Kansas beginning in 2028,” reads a statement from the company.
The Envision was a relatively popular product in China, but only sold in relatively small numbers in the U.S. The company had long said it made more financial sense to just build some extra vehicles in China and ship them here. It would have cost too much money to set up a full assembly line for something that low volume.
Tariffs changed that.
“The whole trade issue that the industry is dealing with at the moment is forcing a lot of manufacturers and suppliers to find alternative sourcing for products,” says Sam Fiorani, a Vice President with Auto Forecast Solutions.
GM’s Fairfax Kansas plant is getting a significant overhaul to make a number of new products, including compact utilities.
“It makes perfect sense,” says Fiorani. “They are moving some of the production of the Equinox to Fairfax. It’s likely the new Buick will be related to that vehicle.”
General Motors is not saying whether the new Buick utility will carry the Envision name, or if it will have a new name, or whether this will lead to other changes in the Buick product lineup. The Envision will continue to be imported from China until the new model is ready to go.
While large tariffs have kept Chinese brand vehicles out of the U.S. market, there are still a handful of vehicles from other brands that are imported to the U.S. The Envision was the top selling vehicle among those products, which also include the Lincoln Nautilus.
In the wake of recent tariffs, carmakers have been announcing large U.S. manufacturing investments. GM–in its statement–says their Fairfax, Kansas plant is one of three sharing a $5.5 billion investment.
“This decision further strengthens GM’s domestic manufacturing footprint and supports U.S. jobs, building on $5.5 billion in new investments announced across our U.S. manufacturing sites in the last year.”