Chevrolet Trailblazer production has been reduced at General Motors‘ production plant in Incheon, South Korea due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Production of the subcompact crossover began at the South Korean plant in January, with U.S. deliveries commencing in early February.
GM suspended production of the vehicle this week as South Korean exports were capped due to the pandemic. According to Automotive News, the ‘BP1’ line at the Incheon plant is scheduled to run for seven business days this month and will be idled for another 11.
GM is also running short on wiring harnesses for the subcompact crossover amid the global pandemic. The wiring harnesses are shipped to the Incheon plant from a supplier located in the Philippines.
Vehicle exports in Korea fell by 36 percent year-over-year in April, according to AN, while components shipments fell by 50 percent. The country experienced an early wave of coronavirus cases but has successfully managed the outbreak and is slowly returning to normal life. The South Korean government reopened malls, bakeries and other retail shops last week.
Production of the Chevrolet Trailblazer began in January after GM Korea held a ceremony to celebrate the launch of the vehicle at the Bupyeong Plant near Seoul. The Trailblazer is also built alongside the new Buick Encore GX at the plant. The vehicles are important strategic models for GM, which describes the pair as “subcompact-plus” crossovers that fill the gap between subcompact offerings like the Trax and Encore and compact vehicles like the Equinox and Envision.
“This new Chevrolet global SUV, proudly developed and manufactured in Korea, is the next-generation core model that will lead the brand’s future,” Kaher Kazem, GM Korea President and CEO, said earlier this year.
It’s not clear how Trailblazer supply and sales will be affected in the U.S., though car dealerships are slowly coming back online in certain parts of the country. Experts predict car sales will rebound in the second half of 2020, but the market’s performance is dependent on a number of variables and will likely differ from state-to-state.
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Source: Automotive News
Comments
I have seen a few of the new Trailblazers listed on local dealership websites, and they are available to test drive. Seems like they are pretty much for sale to me.
Has anyone seen a Chevrolet Trailblazer commercial or print ad as given the stay at home orders in most states, it would be a miracle that a car dealership is open and someone is buying which means until car companies begin advertising their products and not to say how you can have as much as 84 months to pay for the car.. sales will be slow and as Donald Trump says, step One is restarting the US Economy.
We have them on the lot for sale now
I might try to sneak a test drive in one, even though I shouldn’t need a vehicle for a few more years. I’d like to see how that 1.3t 3 cylinder w/ 9spd trans drives. Do you think that the 25k starting price for the AWD is competitive enough given the current saturation of the CUV market?
There are definitely Trailblazers at local dealerships in the US now.
I’ve actually seen a couple of reviews on them already.
We have delivered 2 Trailblazers already. Public seems to like this vehicle. Thinking of getting one when my Equinox lease is up next March.
Just arrived at my local dealer last week at long last. What took so long again? Why is this called Trailblazer and not Trax again? Why are Trax/Encore still in production? (And no, having them as a “price-leader” is not an acceptable excuse!) They look good, but concerned about rear visibility (needs a rear quarter window) and those tiny engines that I don’t want.