Chevrolet has removed the 2019 Chevrolet Blazer it had on display at Comerica Park in Detroit and replaced it with a white Chevrolet Traverse.
United Automobile Workers (UAW) members expressed their displeasure at seeing the new Blazer displayed in Detroit because it is built in Mexico, Detroit Free Press reports. On Saturday, General Motors was seen swapping out the Blazer for a Traverse, an SUV which is built at GM’s Lansing Delta Township plant and shouldn’t upset local UAW members.
“It’s very distasteful for people,” a UAW worker said. “We’ve done outings to Tigers games. I don’t know if that’ll change or not based on the product sitting on the marque. We have a lot of pride.”
General Motors placed the 2018 Blazer in its fountain-area display at Comerica Park on March 26 alongside a silver 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. These vehicles replaced the Colorado ZR2 and last year’s Traverse that were previously on display.
The automaker initially defended its decision to display the Blazer and didn’t seem concerned with the fuss it could cause.
“American workers contribute more to the Chevy Blazer than anyone else,” GM spokesman Jim Cain said. “It pumps more than $500 billion into the U.S. manufacturing economy and supports thousands of good-paying U.S. jobs.”
However, over the weekend the automaker had a change of heart, obviously due to the flak it got for its Mexican-made SUV, although the official line is that it didn’t want baseball visitors distracted (?) by the red Blazer.
“We want people to enjoy baseball without distractions, so we are going to replace the Chevrolet Blazer with a Chevrolet Traverse at the Comerica Fountain”, Cain commented.