VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions GM made in China??!

??>>>> [Click Here]

You know GM is manufacting Buick in Shanghai, China now .... if it was not for the high demand for Buick in China .... Buick would join Pontiac, Olds and saturn.

Bob

If GM can't make a profit in the FREE world market and has to RELY on manufacturing in a Communist country to survive, then they shouldn't be in business in the first place.

Where are you union guys on this?

Cheep slave labor brings nothing but poor, inferior, low quality products. Not to mention that our $$ go towards building their carrier killer missiles among other things.

This has and should always be the mark of the best in quality> (MADE IN USA)

findoctr-

I agree with you completely.

I certainly don't want to beat a dead horse as this has been discussed in length before. It's called greed!!! Nuff said about that.

I cannot address the Auto Workers Union contract, as I know nothing of their contract. As a past member of the International Association of Railroad Telegraphers and a present member of the International Association of Bridge, Structual and Ornamental Ironworkers, I can say that the unions don't have any say as to where businesses conduct their business. Per CNN, GM has also downgraded the new hirees to 14.00 per hr vs what previous members are getting. Am not happy about that, but again, greed is emanently applyed there.
Don't quote me on this, but believe that FoMoCo is also in the process of building plant in China. They will all be in the same act soon enough.

Again, I don't know about Auto Workers contract, but in my union, the word International is the key. I am allowed to work anywhere in the world on Union projects that need the help.

It is very sad to see big business exploit the workers of the world and I do feel badly for those people who suffer because of the wage of .57 per hour that the Chinese people work for, 7 days a week with only a short vacation of Chinese holiday.

Perhaps, if our Govt would stop providing tax incentives for business to go overseas, and start charging a stiff tarrif on incoming products, if could help us. Just my opinion here. Also signed today, a free trade agreement with So Korea and the balance of trade there doesn't sound to good for us again. Kinda reminds me of the Balance of Trade with Japan when we started there. That put us in bad shape, but not nearly as bad as we are seeing with China.

Please excuse me if I rattled on too much. Probably shouldn't have carried on so about this subject.

Respectfully,

Jim

I read where Buck sold 300,000 units here last year but sold 1 million in China. Somebody over there is making money, for certain ..... but that 1 million units sold certainly isn't helping our workers or our economy any.

It seems no matter when a politician or big business owner speaks ... none of them are concerned about the USA citizens.

Greed is the name of ther game.

Bob

This is probably a good time to remind users that the Chevy Chatter's "...sole purpose is to promote the sharing of information about restoration and the operation of vintage Chevrolets." (per our Board Policy)

So, I'll ask that you wind down this discussion. You're more than welcome to continue it on any of the other THOUSANDs of forums that cater to political discussions. We need all the help that we can get to see that Chevrolet continues to be a viable company.

On this forum, we primarily want to hear about rust and grease. And I suspect that VERY FEW politicians surf here and are interested in that kind of stuff. They don't call us "gearheads" for nothing.

Just greed is what it is. One day that will sadly do our country in if this persists. One thing we CAN do is REJECT the inferior crap. That will send a message to the big guys. Straighten up or your gone.

If at any time at all were we need to be UNITED, it is now.

Sorry if this took a political road as that was not what I was trying to convey and I have absolutely no qualms about imported products made in other country's but it seems that GM among other comps.are packaging china made parts as OEM! These are after-market parts and do not meet OEM standards. I work with this junk every day. This is not political but a rip-off. I guess if GM opens a plant in China then this junk will be GM! That was my point.

If your valid inquiry of "Is GM packaging Chinese knockoff as OEM products?" is somehow misconstrued as a political question by the moderators of this forum I would also suspect they have a conception of a "gearhead" as uninformed and/or illiterate consumer. I am offended that any enity would think that enthusiasts of our hobby are on a lower level of the food chain.

Personally I think you bring up a valid question that I would like to see answered to a degree that satisfiys my suspicious that mislabeling is not the case.

Because a few have made comments with political overtones the crux of the question has not been answered and I would appreciate knowing that tThe General has not practiced this form of misleading packaging/sales practices.

This does not look that political to me, it a very informing. It's the kind of information people need to know !
This is in the general information area (Off topic subjects )
Which people might find of common interest. In my opinion I like to know where my cars and parts come from and the quality
of these parts.

I agree... That's why I didn't LOCK the thread. A discussion about the quality of the offshore products and potential future ramifications is very informative. But a discussion about Government slave labor or corporate greed is out of scope for our Forum.

Nuff said... just keep it on track.

((For reference: We've had similar discussions about 7 or 8 years ago, and it rapidly becomes a slippery slope. Ultimately the words become overly sarcastic and someone on the Forum is offended. That's not what we want in our discussions. There are plenty of OTHER places to express "political" or "semi-political" comments. Let's keep our discussion about cars, techniques, parts, tips, and anything else of interest to technical-savy, and not-so-savy, gearheads. This is a HOBBY forum, without affiliation - except Chevrolet.))

My real concern about these types of conversation is how much of it is FACT or RUMOR.

The way I check on a lot of things I'm told or hear is.
www.snopes.com

Speculate as you may, I have seen this happen before but not without reprimand. The next time I receive and open an OEM part and it is a "Made in China" part, I will photograph it and the labeled box it came out of and post it to prove the fact.

Although they are "priced to match after market prices" parts it should be revealed that it is not OEM. Mechanical parts have always been done this way and some actually exceed OEM specs.

I am not sure why there aren't more USA A/M manufacturers? The few that do exist fit, are DOT approved and seem to me to be as good as OEM. Not so much for the oriental imports though.

I am going to throw a twist in here. i ask, if a company needs to manufacture a product and they have a set of specifications that need to be met, does it matter where it is manufactured? If that company however 'reduces' the specs in order to ensure a lower cost of manufacturing, then who's fault is it when the part fails. i feel that any country is capable of producing quality product. It is up to the purchaser, in this case GM to ensure the quality is there. Problem is they need to have that $10 bearing made for $.99, not $9.95 in order to make a profit. and after you cut labour costs, you go after quality. So let's not blame the Chinese, it's not their fault they were asked and paid to make crap. I bet they don't use those crap bearings in their new bullet train.

I would not have a problem as long as the product says were it is made i.e. Goodwrench crate motors say Made in Mexico (or maybe its Assembled in Mexico) and I know that going in.

but speaking of bearings I believe the ONLY bearing supplier in the USA is TIMKIN and a request for a bearing at NAPA Auto Parts will get you a chinese made bearing with the NAPA name on it but at least it says Made in China. You can ask the NAPA counter person specifically for a timken and he will produce one with a higher pricetag (but a longer life!).

I would be deeply troubled if GM sold products from China without claiming this fact .... if this is the case. The jury is still out in my mind.

Then someone needs to change the info stated on the face of the general discussion forum ......."For off-topic subjects which Chevy people might find of common interest".

To find the answer to that we need only to look in our mirrors. As long as we, the consumer, only look at price the products we buy will continue to be made overseas. An American manufacturer paying $15 per hour plus benefits cannot compete in price with a foreign competitor paying $2 per day with no benefits. As long as the American consumer sees no value in keeping Americans working, even if the item costs a bit more, American jobs will continue to go away. Blaming the government for the problem is delusional. It's a problem WE created and only WE can solve. If we tell the sellers we want the items made in the USA and are willing to pay extra for USA made items they will tell the manufacturers and if they hear that enough, the jobs will return. As long as we buy based only on price the job loss will only get worse.

Little story here, I just rebuilt the front end of my 94 3/4 ton sub. and when the parts were delivered there was a VERY significant difference in the physical size of the components (Made in China).Now many of you are familiar with the labor intensity of this and I am not about to go through all that only to have to do it over again next year. So I opted for the "best" grade ( Made in USA and looked heavier duty the OEM) planning on a permanent fix.

If I had the $$ to do it I would open an A/M parts factory and I know it would be very lucrative but this seems to be discouraged for some reason. It's better to import???

You can't imagine what we go through to try and fit some of this junk. It's not worth it! A good 30% of it gets sent back because it's unusable and that's the OEM! I have gotten so disgusted that I prefer used OEM from a junk yard over new because I know there's a better chance it fits.

Back in the day, TIMKEN had one manufacturing plant ....in Canton Ohio. TIMKEN was the big employer in the area. Then they 'branched out".

Now they are in 27 countries, at least 2 manufacturing plants in China.