GM has just unveiled a new business strategy for 2023 in South Korea, where the company hopes to make a notable turnaround and lay the foundation for a sustainable future starting this year.
The automaker’s South Korean subsidiary presented its business strategy for this year on Monday, January 30th in Seoul, during a special press conference called “The New Beginning, The New GM,” anticipating major changes and the scope for profitability in 2023. The plan seeks to increase efficiency of South Korean operations by minimizing costs and maximizing production with new global crossovers set to roll down the assembly lines in the first quarter.
“We have very exciting things planned for 2023,” said President and CEO of GM Korea, Roberto Rempel, in an official statement. “I am sure that the foundation has been laid, and based on what we know today, we are ready to achieve a business turnaround and growth in 2023,” he added.
In particular, GM Korea’s innovations for 2023 include the introduction of “next-generation global products,” the launch of a new marketing strategy to reposition Chevrolet in the local market, the expansion of the multi-brand strategy with the official arrival of GMC, introducing the first Ultium-based EV and strengthening the company’s unique after-sales services for customers.
The main linchpin of GM’s new business strategy in South Korea is the domestically built, all-new 2024 Chevy Trax, which will launch worldwide in the first quarter and is expected to meet strong global demand in the compact crossover category. In addition to be strategically exported to North America, the 2024 Trax will also launch in the South Korean market and debut the brand’s new “Be Chevy” marketing campaign for that country.
Once series production of the all-new 2024 Chevy Trax begins, GM Korea will max out the production capacity of GM Bupyeong, GM Changwon and GM Boryeong plants to 500,000 units per year, starting in the second quarter of 2023. This represents a drastic increase from the 260,000 vehicles the company manufactured locally during the 2022 calendar year, which in turn anticipates a large increase in exports for the subsidiary.
Meanwhile, the company will finalize the introduction of the GMC brand in the South Korean market in first half of the year, and announced the launch of the new Cadillac Lyriq as the country’s first all-electric GM vehicle using Ultium battery and Ultium Drive motor tech. All these product innovations will be accompanied by the arrival of OnStar telematics service and GM’s global ACDelco parts network for the first time in South Korea to enhance the customer experience.
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Comments
a high price for parts
Loss of competitiveness in the Korean market
Currently, Chevrolet brands in Korea have a low market share and are suffering from sales due to notorious repair costs. GM has already invested a huge amount of money in the Korean market, and if its business in Korea continues to fail, it will not be good for GM as a whole. If GM is willing to continue its business in the Korean market, it will have to produce vehicles in popular segments in the Asian market, such as the next generation Malibu sedan or the BOLT EUV crossover in Korea. GM Korea’s operations are not just GM’s production subcontracting base, but also an important branch that has the authority to develop small and medium-sized vehicles.
Unfortunately, Korean consumers still accept Chevrolet and GM as Daewoo brands. It seems better to produce vehicles locally than just selling American GM vehicles to Korea, claiming that they are just American brands. No new vehicles have been assigned for production in Korea since Trax.