mmarshall

Maybe.....maybe not. The Chinese have apparantly backed-off some (but not completely off) on trading with Putin since his Ukraine invasion.

Wilson2000

There are many good points in this thread regarding pricing, tariffs, global competition, history, and such. However, I wouldn't buy a Chinese car for one simple reason...China's human rights abuses by their totalitarian military rulers. Why would we support this type of government? Why are we currently sending so much of our manufacturing to China? Corporations and billionaires are enjoying higher returns because of it, but it's at the expense of American blue collar workers. America's past success was largely due to the strength of its middle class and its manufacturing jobs. Do we really believe we can continue in dominating the world economically if we don't manufacture products and simply become a nation of consumers? Seems to me we will sink the ship if we can't correct course! Please don't buy Chinese cars.

LeX2K

Are you going to completely boycott all things made in China or only certain products?

mmarshall

^^^^ I basically agree with Wilson, particularly for large-ticket items like new vehicles, although, in truth, it can be difficult to avoid buying smaller Chinese-made goods/merchandise, as that is what is mostly sold in stores nowadays, particularly discount ones.

LeX2K

You own a made in China vehicle do you not?

This is a complex subject how far do you punish businesses which will impact the people of a particular country.

mmarshall

Nope....absolutely not. That is one reason, among several, why I avoided the Envision. The Encore GX is built in Korea, with Union-employees. in fact, the GM-Korea plant is just a couple of miles from the plant that built my brother's Kia Sportage.

LeX2K

Thanks for the clarification had it suck in my head you owned the Envision.

mmarshall

No....even aside from the Chinese-manufacture-issue, I generally didn't like either the 1Gen or 2Gen version of the Envision, for several reasons. The Encore GX met my everyday driving needs (and wants) almost perfectly, although I'll admit that the Envision's turbo 4 is smoother and more refined than the turbo-three in the Encore GX.

F1Driver

Believing is one thing but actually having the money to support it in reality is another matter. The average price of an EV is way more than the average person can afford. And then let's not go into talking about the drawbacks to current EV technology, aka lithium-based EVs.

grabber2

I'm quite looking forward for the Chinese EV if they ever make it to the US. More option for me as a consumer so why not. Not digging into the politic issue here.

Wilson2000

I will always choose a product NOT made in China over one that is, if there's an option. Unfortunately, our country has put all (most of) its eggs in one basket, which is never a good idea. Look at what happened in getting PPE during the pandemic. Would I boycott a Chinese mask when it's all that is available? No, I'm not a martyr: I'm a concerned American citizen.

It's getting harder all the time to choose products not made in China. Besides the lack of competition, there is a lack of information. Amazon used to be better at showing the origin of their products. Now, "Country or Origin" is rarely specified in the product description/specification. Its obviously intentional for marketing purposes. It won't be so easy to hide when it comes to big-ticket items like cars!

Wilson2000

"More options, so, why not?" Because you are speaking with your wallet, supporting an abominable regime.

It's impossible to not be political when one chooses to purchase a vehicle made in China. Typically, we're not supposed to speak about politics on CL, but in this case, it can't be avoided. The "politics" equals: buying a vehicle made in a country ruled by a totalitarian military, infamous for human rights abuses, no environmental laws and no labor laws, vs buying from a democratically ruled country!

grabber2

I don't buy into those political hypes. There is law and order there, but not the same way here. As long as they are legally imported and allowed by US law, I won't have a problem buying them.

peteharvey

How is it fair that they tax American imports 27.5% tariffs, when the US has no equivalent tariffs on Chinese imports.
To evade the 27.5% duty, the US import must be locally made in China, and the US manufacturer must hand over their technology and pair with a local Chinese company.
Shouldn’t the US also force the Chinese import to be locally made to waive a 27.5% import duty, and shouldn’t the Chinese manufacturer have to hand over their technology and pair with local US manufacturers?

Motorola

These "Chinese car" threads always fail to distinguish between Chinese-built cars and Chinese brands. Chinese-built cars have been sold in the west for years, just like Mexican-built cars. Nobody cares, if they're even aware of it to begin with- they buy the Chinese Buick because it's a Buick, an American brand. Chinese brands however have zero hope of establishing themselves. Merely owning European brands like Volvo as a proxy isn't enough for any Chinese brand to gain acceptance, just like how nobody who buys a Range Rover has any interest in its Tata Indian leadership.