Chevrolet Korea Sales Decrease 17 Percent To 9,000 Units In July 2018
7
Sponsored Links
Chevrolet sales in South Korea decreased 17 percent to 9,000 units in July 2018.
Individual model sales performance was as follows:
- Chevrolet Aveo sales decreased 96.43 percent to 3 units
- The Aveo is sold as the Chevrolet Sonic in North America
- Chevrolet Bolt EV sales increased 1485.45 percent to 872 units; the performance propels the electric vehicle to become the third-best-selling model in the Chevy lineup
- Chevrolet Camaro sales decreased 67.44 percent to 14 units
- Chevrolet Captiva sales increased 98.96 percent to 191 units
- The Captiva sold in South Korea rides is the extended-length model with three rows of seating on the Theta platform, which dates back to 2006; it is not the smaller Captiva Sport that was sold in the U.S. as the Saturn Vue or in Europe as the Opel Antara
- Chevrolet Cruze sales decreased 70.19 percent to 313 units
- Chevrolet Damas sales increased 4.96 percent to 381 units
- The Damas is a small van originally introduced by Daewoo, which GM subsequently bought in the late 1990s
- Chevrolet Equinox sales totaled 191 units
- Chevrolet Impala sales decreased 49.07 percent to 137 units
- Chevrolet Labo sales decreased 7.2 percent to 361 units
- The Labo is a line of small vans and pickups introduced by Daewoo, which GM subsequently bought in the late 1990s
- Chevrolet Malibu sales decreased 22.75 percent to 1,813 units
- Chevrolet Orlando sales decreased 99.66 percent to 2 units
- Chevrolet Spark sales decreased 15.46 percent to 3,572 units
- Chevrolet Trax sales decreased 11.31 percent to 1,137 units
- Chevrolet Volt sales decreased 51.85 percent to 13 units
In the first seven months of 2018, Chevrolet Korea sales decreased 38 percent to 51,487 units.
Sales Results - July 2018 - South Korea - Chevrolet
| MODEL | JUL 2018 / JUL 2017 | JULY 2018 | JULY 2017 | YTD 2018 / YTD 2017 | YTD 2018 | YTD 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AVEO | -96.43% | 3 | 84 | -68.67% | 277 | 884 |
| BOLT EV | +1,485.45% | 872 | 55 | +1,092.24% | 3,994 | 335 |
| CAMARO | -67.44% | 14 | 43 | -64.69% | 119 | 337 |
| CAPTIVA | +98.96% | 191 | 96 | -21.18% | 1,072 | 1,360 |
| CRUZE | -70.19% | 313 | 1,050 | -57.69% | 3,192 | 7,544 |
| DAMAS | +4.96% | 381 | 363 | -10.48% | 2,281 | 2,548 |
| EQUINOX | * | 191 | * | * | 576 | * |
| IMPALA | -49.07% | 137 | 269 | -61.54% | 963 | 2,504 |
| LABO | -7.20% | 361 | 389 | -13.73% | 2,294 | 2,659 |
| MALIBU | -22.75% | 1,813 | 2,347 | -63.60% | 8,024 | 22,045 |
| ORLANDO | -99.66% | 2 | 596 | -56.48% | 2,171 | 4,989 |
| SPARK | -15.46% | 3,572 | 4,225 | -27.35% | 20,459 | 28,162 |
| TRAX | -11.31% | 1,137 | 1,282 | -40.62% | 5,975 | 10,063 |
| VOLT | -51.85% | 13 | 27 | +50.00% | 90 | 60 |
| CHEVROLET TOTAL | -16.87% | 9,000 | 10,826 | -38.33% | 51,487 | 83,490 |
The GM Authority Take
In the beginning of May, General Motors announced a massive restructuring of its South Korea business unit. Prior to the restructuring announcement, rumors ran rampant that GM could bankrupt its Korean operations and leave the Korean market entirely. These developments appear to have caused a rather steep reduction in consumer confidence in the automaker as well as in Chevrolet, which is more closely associated with General Motors in Korea. As such, we attribute the ongoing drop in Chevy sales in South Korea to lower levels of consumer confidence in GM and Chevrolet.
Another theory for the ongoing decrease in Chevy sales in South Korea is that availability of key locally-manufactured models such as the Spark, Aveo, Cruze, Malibu, Trax and Orlando was negatively impacted by labor strikes during the negotiation process, with inventory not having returned to normal levels.
It’s worth noting that the July sales performance might be on the upswing compared to prior months, For instance, Chevrolet South Korea June 2018 sales decreased 16 percent to 9,528 units, May 2018 sales decreased 35 percent to 7,670 units and April 2018 sales decreased 57 percent to 5,369 units.
GM Korea Restructuring Details
The turnaround plan for GM South Korea involves a $7 billion bailout of the unit (with GM providing $6.4 billion and the Korean Development Bank providing the remaining amount), along with the closure of the GM Gunsan plant and concessions by the local labor union to freeze wages. In addition to the bailout funds, GM will also invest $2 billion over the next 10 years and another $1.6 billion for corporate restructuring and operations. As announced previously, GM will also conduct a debt-to-equity swap totaling $2.2 billion. The move will save GM Korea $110 million in interest payments a year.
Finally, GM will set up a new headquarters office for its GM International division in Korea, as well as bring to market two new crossover utility vehicles and a new three-cylinder engine, with the automaker’s Korea-based vehicle development and manufacturing operations playing a key role in the initiatives.
About The Numbers
- All percent change figures compared to Chevrolet Korea July 2017 sales, except as noted
- South Korea sales figures reflect actual vehicle registrations rather than wholesales
Further Reading & Sales Reporting
- GM news
- Running GM sales results
- Running Chevrolet sales results
Sponsored Links
This is a fruits of GM stupid politics to leave huge Europe (Chevrolet, Opel etc.) and keep small Korea market. Opel under PSA hands now prosper (after one year!) and Korean market is down and vision to grow here (in home of dynamic Hyundai/Kia and strong labor union) is nonsense. I understand that American managers do not know the rest of world and make its plans from a table and these are the consequences. GM is very fragile because it is depends on US. and China market. European know-how, R&D, design centers are lost and now is primary using China taste. GM becoming more local – they care more about Chinese costumers (eg. new Cadillac XT4 goes on Chinese market first then to “home” US…) then American ones.
Agreed. GM’s move to pull out of Europe (along with Russia/CIS) was short-sighted and was part of a completely disjointed strategy.
First, they remove Chevrolet from Europe, in order to supposedly remove internal competition with Opel at the behest of Karl-Thomas Neumann. Then, they sell Opel in order to curb losses… but Chevrolet is still out. Why not re-introduce Chevy back into Europe, and source them from Korea?
I believe that the move to sell Opel was a good one, as GM had not idea how to manage both Opel and Chevrolet, two mainstream brands and remove the internal competition. But it should have kept one or two Opel plants for itself to make Chevrolet models in Europe, as well as some of the R&D staff in the region.
There’s the ultimate irony: some (or perhaps many) Opel plants will soon be shuttered by PSA, and most of the Opel development staff will soon be laid off by PSA as part of its efforts to streamline operations and create more efficiencies.
Several remarks:
• Reintroducing Chevrolet in Europe, West Russia: I understand explanations on the GM-PSA deal in the PSA statement for 2016 as saying that the non-competition agreement means GM can return with mass-market cars to the Europan market three years after the consummation of the sale, which means in July 2020.
• Sourcing those Chevys from GM Korea: It would help to drive down transport costs significantly, if the cars could be transported by rail. Since South Korea is land-transport- and especially railway-wise an island, just like Japan, the South Korean government (even the previous, rather right-wing president Park Geun-hye looked for it) pushes for re-establishing rail links to the North so that South Korea gets rail access to all countries in Europe and most in Asia (this June, South Korea was admitted to the Organization for Cooperation of Railways (OSJD), which was formed by the USSR and allies, and which effectively sets the rules for rail transport east of Western Europe). Hyundai Glovis. the shipping company of Hyundai (former Hankook Logitech) celebrated on August 14 in Vladivostok the start of the first train with 64 containers full of knock-down (KD) automobile parts for a Hyundai Motor factory in Russia, travelling via the TransSiberian railway. The container were brought by ship in 2 days from Busan to Vladivostok. Hyundai expects to cut the travel time from 43 days via the southern sea route around the Eurasian land mass to 22 days via this combined sea/rail route. See english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_business/857732.html and the en.wikipedia-article on Hyundai Glovis. Rail is certainly more expensive than sea for the ton/kilometer, but the higher speed saves capital costs, and allows shorter delays between order and delivery.
• Brand management: GM was overwhelmed by the overabundent number of brands it had in its portfolio, and GM was too slow in reducing the number of platforms and to move to modular tool boxes. I think today that from a GM business standpoint, latest after the 2009 bankruptcy, GM should have kept as global brands only Cadillac, GMC (for commerical vehicles) and Pontiac (for special designs), and merge Chevrolet, Opel, Vauxhall, Holden, and Buick China the same badge-engineering way as Vauxhall was coupled with Opel, into one global mainstream brand.
One more, on the sale of Opel to PSA:
Initially I thought that this was about a GM-PSA alliance similar to the Renault-Nissan alliance. But obviously, GM simply wanted to get rid of all those pesky Opel people, including those in the ITDC (development center). PSA even bought an empty factory: the diesel engine plant in Tychy, Poland, which was founded by Isuzu, and later became an Isuzu-GM joint-venture, before becoming 100% part of GM Powertrain Europe, had stopped production in 2015. It is now being retooled to produce small PSA “Puretech” petrol engines for the PSA factory in neighboring Slovakia (Trnava).
GM…. America Frist…
This is an improvement for the year – the decrease refers to the same month last year, not to the previous month.
The Aveo and Captiva are no longer made, presumably the Captiva sales are clearing stocks to make way for the imported Equinox.
GM sells US made Chevrolets in Europe ; there are no plans to return there in a big way.
TYPICAL GM, as big as they once were has lost its MOJO. sad to say…