After President-elect Donald Trump criticized Chevrolet for making its Cruze line in Mexico, General Motors said all Cruze sedans sold in the U.S. are American-made. However, Chevrolet dealerships across the country are selling new Chevy Cruze sedans that are made in Mexico.
Trump tweeted last week that General Motors is “sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers-tax free across border.” GM responded in a statement that said the Chevrolet Cruze sedan is made in Lordstown, Ohio. It added that all “Chevrolet Cruze sedans sold in the U.S. are built in GM’s assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio.”
General Motors’ guide on the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) shows that if a VIN starts with “3” the car is produced in Mexico. Chevrolet dealerships in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Houston, Texas, and Beaverton, Ore., just to name a few, all sell new 2017 Chevrolet Cruze sedans that are made in Mexico.
The Chevy dealership in Lordstown, Ohio, where GM said all American-sold Cruzes originate from, also lists several Chevy Cruze sedans that are made in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico.
A spokesman for General Motors told The Daily Caller, “Any Cruze sedans still on dealers’ lots built in Mexico were sold to dealers in 2016. We built a small number of Cruze sedans in Mexico in 2016 for the US market to supplement the launch of the Cruze at Lordstown.”
“The only Cruze model being shipped to the US market now is the Cruze hatch,” the GM spokesman added.
The Trump transition team and the United Auto Workers union did not respond to requests for comment.