The company’s local assembly plants are only running at approximately 60 percent of potential capacity, GM International Operations president Stefan Jacoby said this week, according to Bloomberg.
With Chevrolet’s pullout from Europe and ongoing turmoil in Russia, both markets served by Korean production facilities, the plants are said to be left severely underutilized. The issues date back to 2013 when analysts warned that GM’s Gunsan, Korea, plant would only produce 147,000 units in 2014, significantly below its 260,000-vehicle capacity.
Additional details are unclear, though the low production numbers presumably have a negative effect on profitability. A separate 2013 report suggested 6,000 workers would be offered voluntary retirement to help reduce costs.
“Our options are to reduce head count or install new vehicle programs to grow in Korea,” Jacoby added.
The company a year ago reported record high sales in the Korean market, however the strong local demand appears to be insufficient to offset the export reductions.
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