Employees work on Buick Envision SUVs at the Dong Yue Assembly Plant of General Motors, officially known as SAIC-GM Dong Yue Motors Co., Ltd., in Yantai, Shandong province, China, 17 November 2022.
Tang Ke | Visual Group China | Getty Images
DETROIT — General engines plans to move production of a Buick compact SUV from China to the United States for domestic sales, the company confirmed Thursday.
GM said the next-generation vehicle is expected to be built at the automaker’s Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas City, Kansas, starting in 2028. The Buick compact SUV that will be built in the United States will be sold domestically, meaning production of the vehicle in China could also continue and be sold elsewhere.
The move comes as President Donald Trump puts pressure on companies to produce overseas and as relations between the United States and China become increasingly contentious, particularly over tariffs on vehicles.
The Detroit automaker has been producing the Buick Envision compact SUV in China for the United States since 2017. However, the company declined to confirm the name of the next generation of the vehicle it will move to the United States.
“General Motors will shift production of the next-generation Buick compact SUV to Fairfax Assembly in Kansas City, beginning in 2028. This move further strengthens GM’s domestic manufacturing footprint and supports U.S. jobs, building on $5.5 billion in new investments announced in our U.S. manufacturing sites last year,” GM said in an emailed statement.
The compact Buick is expected to join production of the gas-powered Chevrolet Equinox at the Kansas plant following limited production of the all-electric Chevrolet Bolt. Equinox production will begin in 2027, GM said.
Sales of the Envision in the United States have exceeded 40,000 units over the past three years, accounting for about a quarter of Buick’s sales during that period.
GM’s decision to produce the Buick compact SUV in the United States was first reported by Reuters.