General Motors has decided it will pull out of the Indonesian market by March of 2020.
In a release, GM said the decision “followed a comprehensive review of potential future business plans for GM Indonesia.” Hector Villareal, the president of GM Southeast Asia, elaborated on the decision, saying it is “consistent with GM’s global strategy to focus on markets where there is a clear pathway to sustainable profitability.”
“In Indonesia, we lack the scale and domestic manufacturing footprint to sustainably compete in the volume segments of the market,” he said. “These factors have also made our operations more exposed to broader factors in Indonesia, like softening commodity prices and foreign currency pressures.”
“Regrettably, this decision impacts a number of our small team of employees, who GM will support with an appropriate severance package and transition support,” he added. “We are committed to supporting our stakeholders through the transition.”
Chevrolet owners in the country will still have valid warranties on their vehicles and GM will continue to provide aftersales support in the region. Villareal said customers will continue to be able to get their Chevrolet vehicles serviced and repaired at authorized outlets throughout Indonesia as well.
We outlined GM’s struggles in Indonesia in a detailed piece back in 2017. The automaker struggled to gain market share in the country, where Japanese automakers reign supreme. In 2014, GM sold less than 11,000 Chevrolets in Indonesia, giving the American brand a market share of less than 1 percent. By comparison, Toyota and its Daihatsu brand sold over 578,000 vehicles in 2014. Combined, Japanese automakers account for over 90 percent of the Indonesian auto market.
The automaker is encouraging Indonesian customers with questions to contact the Chevrolet Indonesia customer support center at 1500 951, or visit www.chevrolet.co.id.
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Comments
Probably they’ll import Chevies from SK, SA and China for the market.
There will be no more sales of new Chevrolet vehicles in Indonesia.
Light box vans and the Baojun 530 CUV are assembled at the Bekasi factory now owned by the SAIC-GM-Wuling joint venture and sold under the Wuling brand.
Not. GM makes cars and the Chevy Colorado closer than those countries. They are all built in Thailand, so shipping costs are very low and can be delivered much faster than any other country. There are lots of parts makers in Thailand as well, so there is no issue on that front.
Forgot all about Thailand, that and Korea would supply GM vehicles for the Pacific rim nations.
Yes. Besides:
SK is the ISO 2-letter country code for Slovakia, and SA for Saudi Arabia.
There is no automobile industry in Saudi Arabia, and has never been, and while a lot of cars are built in Slovakia, never a GM product had ever been manufactured there.
Sorry to read that the Chevrolet brand will no longer be built in Indonesia.
I would have hoped that GM would expand the worldwide market for Chevrolet and perhaps this is still happening. Australia officially has Chevrolet as a brand returned after having been absent since 1970.
Last Year Australia got the Chevrolet Camaro and in 2002 the Chevrolet Corvette. So, maybe the brand will continue in Indonesia even if the Chevrolets there are fully imported.
My error. Australia will of course get the Chevrolet Corvette in 2020 and NOT 2002 as managed to type incorrectly.
GM contracts as FCA expands. Chevy has a lousy reputation in much of Asia so GM should be selling Buick in all markets near China and should have been selling Vauxhall in India before the sale.
GM missed a chance to grow in Europe with PSA. Now GM should learn from this error by buying local Asian players–no SAIC JVs. Suzuki might be a good idea, for starters.