Forum vendors have been selling wheels from China, now GM is going to get them from there also.

This is out of Automotive News.

General Motors is poised to become the auto industry's largest buyer of wheels in China.

GM purchasing czar Bo Andersson said last week that GM will replace wheels made by Amcast Industrial Corp. in Indiana with aluminum wheels made in China by Zhejiang Wanfeng Auto Wheel Co. Ltd.

Amcast, of Fremont, Ind., sought Chapter 11 protection in December, just months after emerging from a previous reorganization. The company briefly cut off shipments that month to GM, causing delays in Corvette deliveries.

On April 11, Amcast announced plans to close plants in Fremont and Gas City, Ind., by mid-June. About 500 people will lose their jobs, according to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.

Andersson, GM's vice president of global purchasing, said Amcast has an exclusive eight-year deal to buy wheels from Zhejiang Wanfeng. GM acquired that contract in bankruptcy court proceedings for $6 million, he said.

That agreement meant that some of the wheels GM had been buying from Amcast already were coming from China. The new arrangement, and the closure of the Amcast plants, will increase that percentage.

 

Well that sucks.

 

Good to know.

 

That's too bad for America, were these the same people that manufactured the poor polished wheels for the Vette? When I drove my car off the line one year ago I believe they said 15% or more of the parts on the Vette were from outside the U.S?
AL

 

I'm getting Fikse Profil 5S for my '07. ALL_AMERICAN wheels for my Corvette.

 

My understanding is that Amcast bought the rough castings from the Chinese company, then did the polishing or painting here.

I'm hoping that Amcast had a patent on the special "milky clearcoat" they applied to the polished wheels, and no one will be able to duplicate it. Same with the "semipolished high polish"
Unfortuantely, it may turn out that the clearcoat and polish were GM spec and will not get any better.

To quote a Caterpillar exec whom I met in Beijing, "If you stand there and supervise them every minute, the Chinese produce quality that is equal to anything we make in the U.S. If you leave them alone, they produce pure junk- not a single piece will be useable."

Hopefully, GM will be heavy on the supervision. But I'm not counting on it.

 

15% sounds low but we don't know how they value parts, subassemblies, and final assembly labor. With the engine, manual trans, and wheels made offshore the vette may be the American Icon but not, IMO, a made in America car.

With absolutely NO pollution controls RED China can possibly do a better job in many industrial processes IMO. For example chrome plating is nasty...heck in China they just can throw the effluent in the local stream or river.....no pollution controls remember?

Our industry can't compete with a country where manufacturers have such low labor costs and no cost to control pollution. This is one reason the US did not sign the Kyoto Protocols on so-called global warming-developing nations get a total free pass. And China burns a huge amount of coal.

What to do? My hunch is that the wheels will be just fine and comparable or better than domestically produced ones.

 

The overseas content includes such items as passive electronic components used by Dephi etc. I worked for a Japanese company, TDK, that supplied the "Big Three" and their suppliers with stuff like chip caps, filters, magnets and other items. There are two suppliers in the world for many of those items - both Japanese. America checked out of the electronics manufacturing a long time ago in some sectors - a dirty shame.

 

And, you will be very happy with them! I bought a set of fully polished 5S's for one of my other vehicles three years ago and I still smile when I look at them

 

God that pisses me off so bad, I'll pay more for my wheels just to not buy them from China. Honestly if it's going to cost me a little more I really don't mind, knowing that my money isn't going to China.

 

The purchaseas we all make of products from China and the third world are fostering the growth of their industries. The growth of their industries is increasing their demand for petroleum and the increased demand for petroleum by China and the other countries is part of the reason our costs for fuel have been going up.

Go through your house and note all the products YOU have purchased that say "Made in China" or other non-US countries. Now go look in the mirror and thank yourself for being part of the cause for the rise in fuel prices.

 

New buyers won't have a choice. The OEM wheels will be manufactured in China. I don't see how anyone will have a choice.

Tom

 

Get pizzed at GM. They are the ones that contracted with the Chinese after driving the price so low the American manufacturer had to belly up.

 

acually all of you who go "Oh i wanna buy american, I only buy american"

how many of your TVs/electronics are made in america?
how many of your clothes are made in america?
how many of your anything is made in america?

how cares where they are made, as long as they are good quality...

 

Thanks for pointing out what's more than obvious KILR-RYD, for your information I care where it's made. I'm sure many do and there many reasons for it that you obviously don't care about. I'm sure you don't care but many here probably care about the US and are hopeful that production in the US does not cease to exist. I hope that we ensure that we move forwards rather than backwards. It pisses me off the places like China can get away with large amounts of pollution aswell as what I believe to be cruel treatment of many of its citizens. It pisses me off that China can get away without a suitable minimum wage and promote its economy over ours by taking advantages of humane working nature. Yeah it very well matters who my money helps, I care who i'm paying.

 

Don't forget about my wheel that split in half when I hit a pot hole. I sent it in to GM and they called me and said the wheel was with in specification.
Then they bent it more and sent it back to me so it looks like I really tore it up. Its a good thing I have pictures of the wheel prior to sending it to them. Otherwise, I could not prove it was bent more at their testing lab.
Do you find it acceptable to a wheel to split and half and totally fail when you hit a deep pot hole at around 45 to 55 mph? This was only 2 months ago or so and the can only had 202 miles on it. No racing and the road did not have a curb. Two lane country road with bicycle riders in a race, so I was not driving real fast.
Its real

 

So much for American made. Let me guess Toyota & Honda have there wheels made right here in the good old USA!

 

IT'S TIME FOR A NEW WORLD ORDER

 

Like President Bush said other countries are turning out more engineers than this country. The quality appears to be just as good at a cheaper labor rate.

 

Well said. They ought to check their underwear. It's all made overseas. Oh heck. May be they all drive naked.