Viva Mexico , Se?or Avalanche!!!...

[dr_bypass]

As I was waiting at the toll booth today, I started
thinking how I couldnt find one single thing wrong with
my Black Z71 Avy, suddendly i came up with this
issue, not very politically correct but here it is...

Thanks for your time!!!!!

?The Doctor will see you now....oops gone!!?

 

[LazKat]

No big deal but notice I did put new red, white and blue graphics on the rear of mine!

Maybe this explains why my Av seems to pull towards every Taco Bell I pass!

(just me being even more politically incorrect! )

 

[jmbfin]

Sure, I wish it had been manufactured in the good ole USA but I don't believe it could have been built any more solid than it already is even if it had been. I've had absolutely no build quality issues. Couldn't say the same about my STS.

 

[flynhigh]

Maybe it wasn't built specifically in the US, but Hey
at least it was in North America.

 

[WhiteAVZ71]

Its not Chinese!!!

 

[MissAV]

at least it wasn't made by a F-O-R-D manufacturing plant. I say GREAT!!!!

VIVA Avalanche's

 

[Crexis]

I also have no build quality issues with my Av. It's my opinion that capitalism rules the world, and if GM can bring us a vehicle like this at a resonable price (reasonable considering the SUV market anyway!) by having it built out of the country, then that's cool with me! I'm also of the opinion (no flames please!) that a foreign worker who is HAPPY to get his $2.00/hour (he can feed his family in their economy) is probably going to do better work than a bitter and dissatisfied American worker. (not to say that all American workers are in this category, but they are out there!) GM is making money hand over fist on these things, but that's also ok with me... whatever the market will bear. Plus, if these trucks keep being a profitable endeavor, it will insure the continuation of the line (unlike the F-bodies )

 

[flynhigh]

F- Bodies Sniff Sniff

 

[kodeski]

I had no idea it was built in Mexico...until I read the sticker on the inside of the door to find out my build date from a post long ago...I had to take a double take. What's interesting is my 2000 Cavalier was built in Canada...so the last car I had built in America was my 1996 Chevrolet S-10...and I think that was Indiana.

 

[FredRose]

But then again my 1991 Subaru was built in Bloomington IL.

Fred

 

[gandolphxx]

Maybe it wasn't built specifically in the US, but Hey
at least it was in North America.

I am with you, no problems, I am a happy camper - I have noticed that it tends to veer towards a Taco Bell when I am driving though.

 

[Big_Don]

Let's get down to the bottom line. There are a couple of other threads going on how to get the very best price from the dealer. All dealer profit would stay in the US and go toward paying US workers and US taxes. How much more would you be willing to pay for an Avalanche, built in a US plant, by US workers, using US parts? $100? $500? $1,000? $10,000? I suspect, when push comes to shove, most of us would not be any more willing to pay additional than we are to give the dealer some extra profit. The bottom line still rules. It is a shame that vehicles cannot be built in the US for the same amount that they can be built for elsewhere, but unless some dramatic changes are made you can expect to see fewer and fewer vehicles that can claim to be "made in the USA".

 

[AVYNUT]

ON THE OTHER HAND...

Japan has a new auto plant that turns out cars without being touched by a human being. They dump all the raw materials in one door and out pops a car on the other side! EVERYTHING is done by ROBOTS!

So really the question is... Whom controls the Robot and Machine Tool industry? Answer: Japan.

No matter where the factory is physically located, ALL the robots are made/controlled by Japan... Gives you a little something to think about!

 

[gpfahler]

Kinda scary when you think about it.. Someday the unions will try and sign up the robots.

 

[midlifecrisis]

Ironically, people will pay $150 for a pair of sneakers made in Taiwan or $30 for a shirt made in Sri Lanka, but when they find out their vehicle is made in Mexico - they freak out. Go figure....

 

[kodeski]

Its like in the movie "The Graduate"...when Dustin Hoffman is told "Plastics". The word for todays times is "Globalization". Having been lucky enough to have traveled abroad and even to Mexico, I saw American Cars. Where american cars are made abroad...it just doesnt have the same stigma as we give foreign automobiles or joint ventures here in America (at least thats my opinion). I have a good friend in France that is just dying to buy a "PT Cruiser" when they come available in 2004. What about Opel...isnt that GM? Hey...isnt a Mercedes a Chrysler? What about the Jaguar...isnt that Ford? Its time to realize and know that the automobile industry is going global. If it werent for NAFTA...our Avalanches probably wouldnt be able to be built in Mexico.

 

[Big_Don]

Yeah, the line between "American" and "Foreign" is getting pretty fuzzy. Which is a foreign car, a Chevrolet assembled in Mexico, or a Toyota assembeled in the states? It is getting pretty hard to tell any more. Things used to be so simple.... Oh no!, I 'm channeling my grandfather!!!!

 

[Chief]

Here's an article I posted a while back that talks about the plants down in Mexico including GM's Silao plant.

Mexico Becomes Motown South ... "The nation's auto industry is growing fast because of top quality, not just low pay."

Some highlights ...

"Mexico's new auto workers are more than ready to face the challenge. Victor Gallardo, 35, a worker at GM's truck assembly plant in Silao since 1994, is typical. He earns about $3 an hour, or five times more than he was making at his old job at a tire factory."

"At first, Gallardo spent six weeks in classrooms, studying Japanese-style, lean-manufacturing techniques, including statistical process control, predictive maintenance, and standardized job descriptions so that wasted effort can be identified and eliminated."

"The Silao plant uses 80 robots for tasks that are dangerous or that require a high degree of precision, such as body welds that maintain the vehicle's shape. A Janesville, Wis., factory making similar vehicles for GM uses 600 robots, since wages of $22 an hour create incentives to reduce jobs."

"Silao's safety record, at 1.24 injuries or illnesses per 100 workers per year, is about seven times better than GM's U.S. plants'. Its productivity, at 32 hours of labor time per vehicle, is 9 percent higher than Janesville's."

 

[ygmn]

It does not matter!!!

Heck all cars have parts made from more than one country!!!

 

[Chief]

I agree Se?or ygmn. ?I held back for six days before deciding to give them a few facts to compare their comments to ?

 

[gandolphxx]

Goo, loved you reference, nice stats, look at that safety record - thats a good indication of the training and retention at the plant.

Based on my 2500 which was built early [7/01] I think they really did it with pride and care.

 

[ygmn]

Another old poll for members to vote in...