Daimler took the Beijing Jeep plant with it, among other assets, when it sold Chrysler. GAC now builds Jeep and Fiat models in China for FCA.
Cars made by an arm of the GAC Group, the parent company of Trumpchi cars – we are not making this name up – will be exported to the U.S. late in 2019, presumably as 2020 models.
One hopes they will be suited better to their purpose than their coincidental namesake, which might not survive the ocean voyage. GAC hopes it will be the first Chinese car brand to succeed in the U.S. market, despite years of promises from other firms. Trumpchi’s GS8 mid-size sport utility vehicle and its spacious GM8 minivan – the debut or debacle vehicles – are said by pundits to have reasonable levels of quality. We will see.
With the proposed elimination of the $7500 tax credit for electric vehicles that GAC also wants to import in Trump’s welfare for the super-rich and large corporations that just passed the House of non-representatives (your government subsidy now can vary), the future of GAC EVs is unknown.
Nonetheless pundits are speculating that China is eager to exploit the 2.5% U.S. import tariff while it still maintains a 25% tariff in its home market. China also demands a local partner to gain access to its market. Long gone – and now on the list of broken Trump campaign promises – is his plan to attack Chinese currency valuations and trade barriers that he said were unfair in an extraordinary rare moment of truth.
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