GM to produce 500,000 cars from Korea in '23, release 10 EV models by '25

GM has set a goal to churn out 500,000 cars from its Korean plants next year and diversify its vehicle lineup for the Korean market with 10 new EV models released by 2025.

GM Korea, the Korean operation of U.S. auto giant General Motors (GM), unveiled its production goal and shared its investment activities at the 20th anniversary event of the Korean unit foundation at the Changwon plant on Wednesday.

GM Korea last year produced a total of 230,000 vehicles for domestic sales and exports. It aims to expand its annual output to 500,000 units in 2023 to provide popular Chevrolet Trailblazer and a new next-gen global model for the global market.

Separately from output ramp-up, the Korean unit of the U.S. auto giant plans to diversify the vehicle lineup for Korean consumers to release 10 new EV models by 2025.

GM Korea’s new President and CEO Roberto Rampel during the event pledged to bring global best models of Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC to Korea and contribute to fast transition to EVs.

GM invested 900 billion won in the Changwon plant and 200 billion won in the Bupyeong plant to bolster its production capabilities. Painting facilities were newly added to the Changwon plant in March last year, and press, frame and assembly lines were upgraded from September last year to March this year.

The Changwon plant with automated facilities that meet GM’s global standards is now capable of producing 60 cars per hour.

A next-gen crossover SUV model will be produced from the Changwon plant next year, and the Bupyeong plant has been manufacturing Chevrolet Trailblazer. Since the launch in 2020, Chevrolet Trailblazer has been shipped out more than 380,000 units to overseas markets.

GM has invested more than 9 trillion won ($6.4 billion) in its Korean operation since its establishment in 2002. The company underwent a massive restructuring due to continued business hardship but got back to normal following the injection of 800 billion won fund by state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB).

Over the past 20 years, GM Korea produced 26 million cars in total and exported about 24 million units. About 2.4 million units of 50 Chevrolet and Cadillac vehicle models were sold in Korea, and the company hired about 12,000 workers for the Korean operation while purchasing 100 trillion won worth automotive materials and components from local suppliers.

Hundreds of thousand jobs have been created for the past 20 years, and the carmaker contributed much to the development of the automobile industry ecosystem, said Rampel.

The Korean team is doing an important job in GM’s global market strategy, and the next-gen new global model produced from the Changwon plant will be the key to the company’s global success, emphasized Shilpan Amin, senior vice president of GM International.

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