South Carolina Ping 
If you'd like to be on or off the South Carolina ping list, just click Private Reply below and drop me a FReepmail.
Posted on 11/30/2018 10:50:10 AM PST by upchuck
China's import taxes on U.S.-made cars have not hurt demand for BMW's X line of sport utility vehicles that are made in South Carolina, a top executive said Wednesday.
The ongoing trade war between Beijing and Washington hasn't dampened the appetite for German luxury family cars among China's well-heeled, according to the carmaker.
"We have not seen one single unit drop since the tariffs have been introduced," said BMW North America President and CEO Bernhard Kuhnt. BMW's Spartanburg plant is its largest in the world, and it primarily makes SUVs, which are becoming ever more popular with customers in many markets around the world.
The German automaker cut its annual guidance in September, attributing it in part to rising international trade tensions.
Its sales in China showed no signs of slowing, rising 12 percent in October over the same month last year and 6 percent year to date.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
South Carolina Ping If you'd like to be on or off the South Carolina ping list, just click Private Reply below and drop me a FReepmail.
How bout that.
Build things that people want and they sell.
GM bitches about steel prices that everyone else pays. They have a level field now.
They can’t compete because they don’t build cars people like, at least compared to the competition.
That’s what Trump was talking about. They need to design and build cars that people want. If the Japanese and the Germans can do it on US soil, GM needs to get with the program.
I heard Stuart Varney on Fox Business mention this morning that BMW is looking at doing something in “the Carolinas.” Of course we already have a nice plant over in Spartanburg.
Just build reliable cars/SUVs that are nice to drive. Waited 25 years after college to an all-American GM Yukon, replacing my old Z-car which was solid mechanically for 200K miles, but breaking down electrically. Yukon started off seemingly nice, with its Vette 350 V8 engine and handled well with add-on stiff sway bar. At 80K the tranny failed. At 120K the tranny Flex-plate failed circumferentially (should never crack, as steel flex plate ought be “designed” for infinite life), At 140K the rear-end locked up (cracked differential cradle). Sold at 150K. Vette engine locked up for good at 160K. Those were the major ones I can recall, plus the usual water pumps, alternators, starters, etc failing. Basic drive-train stuff not designed to last more than 100K. Since then, Acura and Nissan for reliability. I don’t trust current vintage GM/Detroit products are any better. Its not the tariffs that hurt GM sales. Buick sales in China are declining? Wonder why, proven reliability?
“At 80K the tranny failed”
Setting you back what, $5K for the replacement?
GM reliability is far better now then it ever was, but they still don’t get it: planned obsolecsence doesn’t make people buy more of their cars, they simply stop buying them altogether.
And I think Mercedes has a plant in Alabama. I bet they haven’t suffered either - put out a product people want, instead of the product you wish they wanted, and they will sell.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.