Drew Dowdell

Yup, it is our fault. Not faulting the Chinese Government for taking advantage of it, I'm more angry with GM for doing this as I don't think it's needed and it makes them look bad especially when people are still angry over the bailout. You want them to be bad at business? If anything, from a strictly business standpoint, more Buicks should be built in China because that's where most of them are sold. GM cannot and should not be spinning up a whole new production line just to build 60,000 cars for the U.S. They've already had to move the Terrain and Equinox around a bit just to accommodate those two. If they build Buick's in China and sell them there I have no problem with that. I think you all are downplaying the way this will play out in the media and in the mind of consumers. We may be rooting for GM, those that aren't will come down on them harder than I am. As for not being able to produce the Envision in the U.S. that's just another sign of GM's shortsightedness. I think GM needs a new CEO, have thought it for a long time. Barra is not up to the job, IMO No one said they aren't able. They are not ready to and there are profits to be had in the meantime. The Envision is the first crossover on the new D2UX platform. There are ZERO D2UX platforms being built in the US at the moment. That will change when the new Terrain, Equinox, and whatever other future crossovers start being built in the US, at which time, production is likely to move state-side. As for the PR.... the people who won't buy a GM over this move weren't going to buy one in the first place. You don't walk into a GMC store ready to sign your name on a lease for a new Sierra Denali, spot the Envision in the showroom, find out the Envision is made in China, and then leave in protest. The people who are angry over this just go and lease a new Camry or Sonata every 4 years at $250 down $250 a month deal completely ignorant of their hypocrisy. If you want a Buick, you can buy one made in America, or Korea, or Poland, or Canada, or China.

Yup, it is our fault. Not faulting the Chinese Government for taking advantage of it, I'm more angry with GM for doing this as I don't think it's needed and it makes them look bad especially when people are still angry over the bailout. You want them to be bad at business? If anything, from a strictly business standpoint, more Buicks should be built in China because that's where most of them are sold. GM cannot and should not be spinning up a whole new production line just to build 60,000 cars for the U.S. They've already had to move the Terrain and Equinox around a bit just to accommodate those two.

Well.. no... my 0.56% or 1.3% is the percent of airbag non-deployment fatalities vs number of all recall affected cars involved in a crash. We simply don't have enough statistical data from a control group and the recall group to get much closer than this.

I don't think I minimized anything regarding their death nor is it my intention to. I am minimizing the hysteria that exists around the issue.

.... and the argument Steve is using against China, the US does the exact same thing but with trucks and SUVs. Or did you think Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Honda, Toyota, Subaru, Kia, Nissan, Volvo, and Mitsubishi built manufacturing plants here out of the goodness of their hearts to the American worker?

I don't follow your reasoning for your first item a. In that study, 2% of fatalities happened when the airbags didn't deploy, but were expected to have deployed. You cannot compare that to just the ignition related fatalities and not take into account the number of airbag deployments that did happen. It's not 2% vs 100%. If you want to look at just the main ignition recall numbers, that's fine too. Assuming a rate of 0.5% of the 2,600,000 recalled vehicles have a crash that deploy the airbags, 169 where the airbags didn't deploy is still less than 2% ringing in at 1.3%. What makes it hard is that both this study, and the 169 fatalities only count fatalities and not crashes that happened where no one died, but the airbags still did not properly deploy. If you start to compare all injury claims on GM from this issue, you cannot then compare it to the 2% number from the DOT because that only counts fatalities. In your first item b, you make an incorrect assumption. The study was specifically looking at fatalities in frontal crashes. From the study: Yes, it is a design flaw. Yes GM must fix it. However, the "mountain made from mole hills" comment refers specifically to the rate of occurrence of this issue compared to airbag non-deployments industry wide. Further, 169 fatalities is a drop in the bucket in relation to the over 30,000 fatal car crashes each year. I don't want to sound like I am minimizing the 169 deaths that might have been prevented, but that number over 13 years when over 30,000 a year are dying in traffic accidents, one has to keep things in perspective. 18 times as many people die just from not using seat belts each year (3,353 - 2010 : 3,394 - 2011 : 3,031 - 2012) than died from the total 13 years of this ignition switch issue. 4.5 times as many people die each year from not wearing a motorcycle helmet. (708 - 2010 : 706 - 2011 : 781 - 2012)

Then buy an Enclave instead of an Envision. Problem solved.

I hope the US gets it. They won't sell a ton, but the people they sell them to will be very loyal to the brand.

While the names (and brands) were changed to protect the innocent, the movie Christine is based off a true story of what happened after Balth had inappropriate relations with a '59 Buick and various other spare parts in his garage.

It's a drop in the bucket sales wise and Buick is selling the MUCH more expensive Enclave in China..... building it in Michigan. As long as GM shows a dedication to continuing to build the bulk of its US market cars in North America, I have no problem with some small volume niche models coming from Australia, Korea, Germany, Mexico, and ... yes... China. As long as the quality is there in the Envision, it will sell in the US fine. Being German designed and Korean built certainly didn't slow down the Encore any.

Yeah, I like grabbing an Explorer when I can't get a Suburban for my rental.

Are you suggesting of the 169 deaths and hundreds more injured, that it only involved Cobalt? I did not know. I mean, I know there were many vehicles recalled, but if that is true, that is a bit surprising to go to such lengths to save face. There are two primary recalls over the ignition switch problem. The "main" one where the entire switch itself is replaced only involves the Chevy Cobalt and HHR, Pontiac G5 and Solstice, and Saturn Ion and Sky. Those are the only ones with a part number specifically linked to any injuries or fatalities. There is a second group of recalls that involve the fix you got Wings, where just the keys are modified. This recall involves a different part number and no injuries or fatalities. This is the "saving face" recall where GM is extending an extreme level of caution just to be on the safe side. This recall involves the final generation W-Body cars (Lacrosse, Intrigue, Impala, Monte Carlo, Grand Prix), the N-Body cars (Early Malibu, Grand Am, Alero), the G-Body (Lucerne, Deville, DTS), and some of the early Sigma cars (CTS, Early SRX, but NOT STS), and the Camaro. The total number of vehicles recalled around 6 million in this country. Another point to be made is that the percentage of crashes where the airbags did not deploy due to this issue is well below the rate of non-deployment industry wide. Even the Department of Transportation states that the airbags fail to deploy in up to 2% of crashes. Even if 0.5% of the total of the recalled GM vehicles (30,000) were involved in a crash where the airbags should deploy, 169 vehicles where the airbags didn't deploy would be just 0.56%.... there would have to be 3.5 times as many instances of this situation happening just to meet industry average. Naturally, GM should be making sure that their vehicles are as safe as can be engineered for, but at the same time this is a very large mountain built from mole hills, and it doesn't surprise me at all that GM will defend itself where it can. Edit: Actually, I made an error above. The total number of vehicles recalled for the ignition is 17.3 million, not 6 million (which seemed too low and why I went and checked more). I'm not going to redo all of my percentages, even at 6 million, my point has been more than made.

Good to know you didn't have a nut loose.

Do third rows that fold flat really take up that much extra space?

You're both right.

And Cheers to Bobo with a great New Years post every year!

To be fair, you're talking about poorly balanced RWD cars from 25+ years ago. I remember the old Cougar being squirrely even in just rain. My Caprice was a tank and did well in anything as long as the tires were good. My Continental was more stable than a Cougar, but snow tires were still required... even then they didn't help me on slick ice. My CTS on the other hand, did really well with its Dunlop Wintersports and near 50/50 weight balance. I could to anything except get up my driveway. My FWD Cutlass couldn't do it on all-seasons either (never did put snows on that one).

It's just a temp move most likely. But it makes a lot of business sense to do it this way when there isn't currently a line in the US to build them on. GM sells 4 times as many Buicks in China as they do in the US.... including a good bunch of Enclaves that are built here in the states.

Isn't the Fiesta made in China? It is, but not for US consumption. Spain, Germany, Mexico, China, India, Brazil... and more. The U.S. bound ones are made in Mexico.

Bad link?

Wishing everyone a safe and happy 2016. If you're going out tonight, please drive safe or have a driver.

No third row.

Mercedes screwed the pooch in a lot of ways in the DCA merger. They screwed up the Liberty by shortening it so it would be CR-V sized. They had no real idea at all what to do with Jeep. Their product planning was horendous..... it was evident very early on that they had no idea how to deal with the mainstream consumer market in the US. Can you imagine being in the product planning meeting where they announce "This is your new boss Wilhelhm Johan.... he thinks it would be a good idea to drop your great selling, highly acclaimed, well reviewed family sedan and replace it with a wagon only model... oh, and it RWD... and V8". *groan* "Oh, and you know what else guys? Chrysler is going to get the sedan version, and it will be cheaper and with a smaller base engine". Benz has no flipping CLUE how to run Chrysler... the talent we have HERE would have been better.

While many think that Ocn just doesn't like electric cars, the real reason is because Elon once stood him up for a date.

Well, the Alero was being sold at a price. The Shortstar was too expensive to put in a car that maxed out around $23k.