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GM Authority

Chevrolet Korea Sales Decrease 31 Percent In March 2021

Chevrolet Korea sales decreased 31 percent to 6,149 units in March 2021 compared to March 2020 results.

Individual model sales performance was as follows:

During the first three months of the 2021 calendar year, Chevrolet Korea sales decreased 9 percent to 17,353 units.

Sales Results - March 2021 - South Korea - Chevrolet

MODELMAR 2021 / MAR 2020MARCH 2021MARCH 2020YTD 2021 / YTD 2020 YTD 2021YTD 2020
BOLT EV-69.30% 132430-77.15%175 766
CAMARO-68.18% 722-62.26%20 53
COLORADO-14.29% 282329-35.44%940 1,456
DAMAS+82.01% 435239+76.91%1,226 693
EQUINOX-87.39% 15119+79.86%500 278
LABO+96.17% 512261+114.31%1,483 692
MALIBU-44.30% 298535-26.63%887 1,209
SPARK-33.63% 1,6932,551-21.05%5,728 7,255
TRAILBLAZER-33.17% 2,1303,187+21.32%4,604 3,795
TRAVERSE-43.05% 303532-26.04%761 1,029
TRAX-55.00% 342760-43.45%1,028 1,818
CHEVROLET TOTAL-31.41% 6,1498,965-8.88%17,353 19,044

The GM Authority Take

After recording three consecutive months of gains, Chevrolet Korea sales declined markedly in March. The performance represents the first month thus far in 2021 during which the Bow Tie brand’s sales were in the red in the Asian country.

The reason for the decline in Chevrolet sales during March is unclear, but we posit that it’s the result of lower inventory availability caused by the ongoing semiconductor shortage, which has negatively impacted local production of the brand’s vehicles.

Nine of the 11 models offered by Chevrolet in South Korea suffered a decline in March, including its best-selling nameplates in that country: the Chevrolet Spark and Trailblazer. However, the subcompact crossover became the brand’s best-selling model last month with a total of 2,130 units, surpassing the Spark for the first time since mid-2020. Today, the Trailblazer is the primary driver of both sales volume and the recovery of GM Korea’s business in the country.

For their part, the market-exclusive Chevrolet Damas and Labo mini commercial vehicles were the only ones that managed to post increases in sales volume in March with significant growth levels of 82 and 96 percent, respectively. Since these two legacy models do not require the same semiconductors as the newer, more technologically-advanced GM vehicles, their production and associated availability were not interrupted by the chip shortage.

About The Numbers

  • All percent change figures compared to Chevrolet Korea sales in March 2020, unless noted otherwise
  • South Korea sales figures reflect actual vehicle registrations rather than wholesales

Further Reading & Sales Reporting

Deivis is an engineer with a passion for cars and the global auto business. He is constantly investigating about GM's future products.

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Comments

  1. I do not see the point of doing business in S.Korea when you can get the home country brands with a longer warranty and the depreciation has to be high.

    Reply
    1. I have no evidence to back this claim, but I bet they do business in S. Korea as a work around to use parts made in China, but assembled in Korea. Probably keeps material cost way down. lowercase gm just lets gm korea use the cheapest chinese crap and imports a really inferior product in the the Buick gx and TB.

      As you said, the S. Korean consumers aren’t dumb enough to fall for that and buy the better quality products made by Korean companies. It’s just a shame the U.S. consumers can’t see through Mary’s profit first, quality and value last business plan. Build the cars that people want in the U.S. Bring back actual skilled labor and pay the work force a competitive wage!

      Reply
      1. Your conspiracy theory holds no water.

        Korea and China don’t like each other, and this sentiment extends to the people. That’s why there are no Chinese cars sold in Korea. There are no Chinese parts used in Korean built vehicles. They are sourced locally. Korea has a well developed system and supply chain for that.

        Reply
        1. S. Korea’s largest trading partner BY FAR for both imports and exports is China. I would wager most of the metal and polypropylene for the GX and TB comes from China. The 1.3t motor was designed by GM-SAIC (shanghai). Though the parts maybe made in S. Korea I bet ALOT of the raw materials are sourced from China. So yeah, they have a supply chain for raw materials… it’s called China. Statistics support this claim.

          At a glance, S. Korea’s percentage of Imported materials from China is much higher than that of the United States. I’m sure Biden’s relaxation on import tariffs will change that slightly. I’m pretty sick of being called a conspiracy theorist when there is a great deal truth to my statements. This particular “conspiracy” holds a lot of water. I don’t care if they like each other or not, I care about the financials. Where my money ultimately goes. Seems like a lot more of it (percentage wise) trickles back to China if I buy a lowercase gm korean vehicle. Maybe they should bring production of the GX and Encore stateside?

          source: globaledge. msu .edu/ countries/ south-korea/ tradestats
          globaledge. msu .edu/ countries /united-states /tradestats

          Reply

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