GM defends practices after Trump tweet

General Motors defended its business practices on Tuesday after President-elect Donald Trump ripped the automaker for producing cars in Mexico and sending them back to the United States. 

GM, the nation’s biggest automaker, said only a small number of Cruze hatchbacks are made in Mexico and sold in the United States, while the majority of the production in Mexico is sold in that market. 

“General Motors manufacturers the Chevrolet Cruze sedan in Lordstown, Ohio. All Chevrolet Cruze sedans sold in the U.S. are built in GM’s assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio. GM builds the Chevrolet Cruze hatchback for global markets in Mexico, with a small number sold in the U.S.,” a statement from the company reads.

NEW: General Motors responds to Donald Trump tweet about Chevy Cruze production https://t.co/VxcRbsEPvK pic.twitter.com/ncPbx7ARV0

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 3, 2017

{mosads}ABC News first reported the GM statement.

GM offered the statement about an hour after Trump tweeted, threatening a “big border tax” to the automaker’s models made in Mexico.

General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers-tax free across border. Make in U.S.A.or pay big border tax!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017

U.S. taxpayers lost $11.3 billion in the federal bailout of GM following the 2008 financial crisis.  

Trump repeatedly hammered Ford, which did not take a bailout, on the campaign trail.

— This report was updated at 10:30 a.m.

Read more from The Hill:

Trump slams GM on Twitter