As with all reports stemming from ‘unnamed sources’, it would be wise to take this information with large grains of salt. Still, even the specter of this happening is too big not to mention.
Longtime readers of TTAC (thanks, all three of you) will remember the GM Death Watch maintained by this site. If the company does exit some of its brands from markets like China and Korea, a case could be made for rebooting the series. These rumours surfaced overseas from media sites in the respective countries.
The first report talks about GM withdrawing from the Korean market, citing moves made by GM Korea to sell off company-run service centres and some parcels of idle land. We will say that’s a big jump to make in assumption, since companies the size of GM routinely divest parts of business and seek to make a quick buck selling land or buildings it no longer uses. For its part, GM told the reporting outlet it has no plans whatsoever to leave Korea behind, citing its plan to continue importing cars from the peninsula even in the face of Trump’s tariff taxes. Spox also reiterated the company’s strength in Korea along with opportunities yet to be tapped, so we’re not sure this rumor passes the sniff test.
A rumor with slightly more teeth is the one speculating Chevrolet is facing trouble in China. An outlet in that market, citing an article which has since been taken down, alleges all Chevrolet projects which are not yet in production have been put on indefinite hold. The strategic alliance of SAIC-GM is allegedly trying to stem losses by doing so. What cannot be disputed are sinking sales numbers for the brand in that market, slipping from 640,000 units in 2018 to just over 168,000 last year. That’s a drop in market share from an estimated 2.8% to not even a single percentage point. Note the outlet talks about Chevrolet, not GM as a whole.
Again, we’ll watch all this closely and look for more sources before writing off the brands in this manner.
[Image: GM]
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