Tag: GM Korea

GM Korea Halts Production Due to Coronavirus’s Impact on Auto Parts from China

| February 13, 2020

Another auto manufacturer has shutdown production because of the coronavirus’s impact on China:

GM Korea is temporarily halting operations at one of its three car assembly plants as the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak threatens the steady supply of auto parts.

The Korean unit of General Motors said Wednesday that it is closing its Bupyeong factory in Incheon on Feb. 17 and 18 because of delays in the arrival of auto parts, including wiring harnesses, from China. 

The factory will resume operations on Feb. 19.

The decision by GM Korea follows Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, Renault Samsung Motors and SsangYong Motor shutting their factories temporarily as a result of supply shortages.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

President Trump Happy GM Closing South Korean Plant and Moving Jobs Back to Detroit

| February 15, 2018

President Trump is taking credit for GM shutting down one of their factories in Gunsan and relocating to Detroit:

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday hailed General Motors Co.’s decision to shut down a plant in South Korea, saying the carmaker will now “move back” to Detroit.

GM announced the same day that it will close one of its four car assembly plants in South Korea by the end of May due to lower demand for its vehicles. The move came as part of the Detroit-based automaker’s broad restructuring program across the world.

“GM Korea company announced today that it will cease production and close its Gunsan plant in May of 2018, and they’re going to move back to Detroit,” Trump said at a trade-related meeting at the White House.

The facility in Gunsan, 270 kilometers south of Seoul, was underutilized and running at 20 percent of its capacity for the past three years.

“You don’t hear these things, except for the fact that Trump became president,” Trump said. “Believe me, you wouldn’t be hearing that. So they’re moving back from Korea to Detroit. They’re moving.”  [Korea Times]

Apparently GM is saying they are closing the plant due to higher labor costs in South Korea.  GM is trying to get the union to renegotiate its labor contract to keep its other three plants in the country open.