GM Korea in normalization of management, long-term outlook depends on electrification
[이미지출처=AP연합뉴스]
[아시아경제 유제훈 기자] The future of GM Korea is also drawing attention as General Motors (GM), the largest automobile manufacturer in the United States, has decided to stop producing internal combustion locomotives by 2035. As GM Korea has yet to allocate electric car production from its headquarters, as the topic of global automakers has become’electricalization’, it is analyzed that the future depends on whether it can join the ranks of electric cars.
According to the industry on the 31st, the CEO of GM Mary Barra said in a statement on the 28th (local time), “We will fill all of GM’s vehicle lineups with electric vehicles by 2035,” saying, “Through this, we will achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. The goal is to achieve,” he said.
According to this policy, GM will cease production and sales of internal combustion vehicles, which account for 98% of its current sales and profits by 2035, and switch to an electric vehicle production and sales system. The internal combustion vehicle business is expected to be reduced to that of large commercial trucks. To this end, GM decided to invest 27 billion dollars (about 302 trillion won) for future vehicle technology research and development (R&D) over the next five years.
As GM is in a hurry to reorganize its system, the industry’s interest is drawing on GM Korea. GM Korea is still focused on normalizing management. In the domestic market, we are struggling, but exports reached 28,5499 units last year, starting with the sports utility vehicle (SUV) trail blazer at the Bupyeong plant. In addition, the development of a next-generation crossover vehicle (CUV) is underway with the aim of mass production in 2023.
However, even with such a normalization, there is also considerable prospect that long-term survival without electrification may be difficult in the medium and long term. As GM declared that it would cease production of internal combustion vehicles by 2035, it could mean that it could lose its place as a simple production base if electrification was not achieved.
Until now, GM Korea is in the stage of importing and selling only Volt EVs from its headquarters without any separate electric vehicle volume allocation and production. The new CUV, scheduled for production in the future, is also an internal combustion vehicle. The labor union has also requested the allocation of electric vehicles, but it has not been answered.
GM Korea President Kaher Kazem also recently met with reporters and made a principled stance regarding the allocation of electric vehicles, saying, “We have attracted investment while establishing a business normalization plan, and as part of that, we are focusing on two major global products, SUV and CUV products.” .
The industry believes that GM Korea should focus primarily on securing production stability in order to allocate electric vehicles from its headquarters in the future. President Kagem also said, “As GM Korea is a company with a very high export share, it is necessary to be sure that customers have stability and supply (vehicles). There are consistent production disruptions every year due to frequent disputes or strikes. He also said that a stable working environment is necessary as it can give an image of uncertainty even in the decision of investment and allocation of (quantity).
Reporter Yoo Je-hoon [email protected]