GM’s sales of its Korean-made vehicles have slipped 9.1% in the first four months of 2025
2 hours ago
- Union officials are worried that the car manufacturer may be exiting the domestic market.
- GM insists it is simply “unlocking value from surplus assets” and won’t cut production.
- The automaker built half a million cars in Korea last year, exporting most to the United States.
General Motors has revealed it will close several company-owned service centers in Korea and sell several unused properties and facilities at its Bupyeong vehicle assembly plant. The plans have triggered fears that GM may be preparing to leave the local market, but the company insists that isn’t the case, even though it has reported a recent decline in sales.
The automaker will close the nine after-sales service sites it has across the country, but the current 386 contracted after-sales service sites it has will remain. Employees at the company-owned sites will be reassigned to other divisions within the company. According to GM Korea chief executive Hector Villarreal, “unlocking value from surplus assets and eliminating loss-making service operations are critical to supporting ongoing sustainability.”
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Then there are GM’s plans for its main Bupyeong plant. The carmaker says that despite selling properties and facilities within the site, this will have no impact on production.
Despite these assurances, some are worried. During a recent meeting, labor union officials confronted Villarreal about the move. “Selling off company-run service centers sounds like you’re exiting the domestic market,” the union said. Villarreal insisted this was not the case.
“GM Korea is the only local automaker with no road map for transitioning to future vehicles, which poses a serious threat to long-term job security,” GM Korea union boss Ahn Kyu-baek told Korea Joongang Daily. “Dropping the asset sale announcement without a future plan is like dropping a bomb.”
The changes come despite GM enjoying a fruitful 2024 in Korea, although sales have slowed through the first four months of this year. In 2024, GM built 499,559 vehicles in Korea last year, of which 418,792 were exported to the United States. This year, its total sales slipped 9.1% to 154,141 units, compared to the 169,638 over the same period last year.
