View source for GM Korea

{{Short description|South Korean subsidiary of General Motors}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox company
| name = GM Korea Company
| native_name = {{lang|ko|한국지엠주식회사}}
| former_name = GM Daewoo Auto and Technology Co.
| logo = General Motors (2021).svg
| image = Bupyeong-gu Incheon Korea.jpg
| image_caption = View of the plant (front) in July 2010
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| predecessor = [[Daewoo Motors]]
| foundation = {{Start date and age|2002}}<ref name="Choe Sang-Hun 2006">{{Cite news |last=Sang-Hun |first=Choe |date=23 May 2006 |title=In Daewoo, GM finds gold in overall gloom |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/23/business/worldbusiness/23iht-daewoo.html |access-date=4 September 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
| location_city = [[Bupyeong District]], [[Incheon]]
| location_country = South Korea
| key_people = Hector Villarreal ([[President (corporate title)|President]] and [[Chief Executive Officer|CEO]])
| num_employees = 9,200 (2023)
| industry = [[automotive industry|Automotive]]
| products = [[car|Automobiles]], [[pickup truck]]s
| production = {{increase}} 499,559 (2024)<ref>{{Cite web |title=GM Korea's Sales Hit Seven-Year High in 2024, Totaling 499,559 Units|url=https://www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=233001|access-date=11 January 2025|website=Businesskorea|language=en-US}}</ref>{{efn|The figure only includes the South Korea-built vehicles.}}
| revenue = {{decrease}} {{SK won|12.92 [[Trillion (short scale)|trillion]]|link=yes}} (2014)<ref name="KH">{{Cite web |last=Kang |first=Su-min |date=11 April 2015 |script-title=ko:르노삼성과 한국GM, 지난해 전혀 다른 길 걸었다 |trans-title=Renault Samsung and GM Korea were in a completely different path last year |url=http://www.businesspost.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=11412 |access-date=25 November 2015 |website=businesspost.co.kr |publisher=Business Post |language=ko}}</ref>
| parent = [[General Motors]]
| divisions = {{Unbulleted list
  | [[Chevrolet]]
  | [[Cadillac]]
  | [[GMC (automobile)|GMC]]
  }}
{{Collapsible list
  | title = Former
  | [[Buick LaCrosse#Alpheon|Alpheon]]
  | [[Chevrolet Europe]]
  | [[Daewoo Motors|Daewoo]]
  | [[GM Vietnam]]
  }}
| homepage = {{URL|https://www.gm-korea.co.kr/en/home.html}}
| module = {{Infobox Korean name
| child  = yes
| hangul = 한국지엠
| hanja  = 韓國지엠
| rr     = Hanguk Jiem
| mr     = Han'guk Chiem
}}
}}
'''GM Korea Company'''{{efn|Formerly ''GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co.''<ref name="Choi He-suk 2011">{{Cite news |last=He-suk |first=Choi |date=20 January 2011 |title=Daewoo cars history as GM Korea switches to Chevrolet |language=en |work=Choi He-suk |url=https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20110120000754 |access-date=4 September 2023}}</ref>}} ({{langx|ko|한국지엠주식회사}}){{efn|Also spelled as {{lang|ko|한국GM주식회사}}, {{IPA|ko|haːnɡuk tɕ͈i em dʑuɕikʰøsa|IPA}}}} is the South Korean [[subsidiary]] of American [[multinational corporation]] [[General Motors]] and the third largest [[automobile manufacturer]] in South Korea. GM Korea's roots go back to the former [[Daewoo Motors]] vehicle brand, which was split from its parent company, [[Daewoo]], in 2002.<ref name="Choe Sang-Hun 2006" /> In addition to importing vehicles for sale into South Korea, the company also operates three manufacturing facilities producing vehicles for the domestic market and for export.

== History ==
=== Predecessors ===
{{See also|Daewoo Motors}}
GM Korea's roots go back to the remnants of the [[Korean War]] and [[Shinjin Motors]], which launched its business by rebuilding scrapped US military vehicles. Shinjin Motor was first established as National Motor in 1937 in Bupyeong-gu, Incheon, [[Korea under Japanese rule|Japanese Korea]]. After changing its name to Saenara Motor in 1962, Saenara Motor was bought by Shinjin Industrial in 1965, which changed its name to Shinjin Motor after establishing a partnership with [[Toyota]]. After Toyota's withdrawal in 1972 (to keep doing business with China, which would not trade with companies who engaged in South Korea or Taiwan), Shinjin Motor changed its name to GM Korea (GMK) in 1972 with [[General Motors]] purchasing a 50% stake in the company from Toyota in 1972; however GMK was renamed again in 1976 to [[Saehan Motors]].

{{multiple image
|align = left
|direction= 
|total_width= 400
|image1 = 20150920 GM Korea Rekord 1.jpg
|caption1 = 
|image2 = 1977년 3월 서울특별시 영등포구 여의도광장 최초 국산소방차 인수식08.jpg
|caption2= 
|footer= Two models by defunct GM Korea (GMK), predecessor of the current company, (left): GMK Rekord Royale (a rebadged [[Opel Rekord Series D]]) and 1977 [[fire engine|firetrucks]] bodied by Ha Dong-hwan.
}}
[[Korea Development Bank]] (KDB), the company's creditor, took over management in 1976 as the company found itself unable to cope with competition from [[Hyundai Motor Company|Hyundai]] and [[Kia]]. After [[Daewoo]] gained control in 1982, the name was changed once more to Daewoo Motor. In the early 1990s the company started to expand heavily throughout the world. Until 1996 all Daewoo cars were based on GM-designed models. After the [[1997 Asian financial crisis]] reached South Korea, Daewoo took over the troubled SUV manufacturer [[SsangYong Motor|SsangYong]] in 1998, but ran into financial trouble and was forced to sell the company off in 2001 to GM affiliate [[SAIC Motor|SAIC]].

=== Formation of GM Daewoo ===
In 2001, General Motors bought most of Daewoo Motor's assets to form "GM Daewoo Auto & Technology". The new company started operations on 17 October 2002, with GM and its partners [[Suzuki]] and [[SAIC Motor|SAIC]] holding a stake of 66.7% with investments of US$400 million. The GM holding was purchased by GM's Australian subsidiary, [[Holden]], which held a seat on the board and was legally responsible for GM Daewoo.<ref>http://awresearcher.net/VMSI/display.asp?vmsiid=2&contentid=12778{{dead link|date=August 2011}}</ref> The remaining equity stake of 33.3% was held by Korea Development Bank and several other Korean creditors with investments of US$197 million. The deal did not include 15 plants, including Daewoo's oldest plant in [[Bupyeong-gu]] which is now operated under the name Incheon Motor Company as a supplier to GM Daewoo. In 2004, [[Tata Motors]] purchased [[Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle|Daewoo Commercial Vehicle]], which had been spun out of bankrupt Daewoo Motor Co. in 2002. In February 2005, GM invested US$49 million to raise its share in the company to 48.2%. In 2010, [[General Motors]] owned 82.9%, SAIC 9.9%, and the Daewoo Motor Creditors Committee the remaining 7.2%.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GM – Global Operations – Korea |url=http://www.gm.com/corporate/about/global_operations/asia_pacific/kore.jsp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228101335/http://www.gm.com/corporate/about/global_operations/asia_pacific/kore.jsp |archive-date=28 February 2009 |access-date=7 September 2011 |publisher=General Motors}}</ref>

On 25 November 2003, the design center was relocated to the new two-story building at the [[Bupyeong-gu]] headquarters. The first car to be produced under the GM Daewoo nameplate was the 2002 [[Daewoo Lacetti]], replacing the [[Daewoo Nubira|Nubira]]. This car was developed in South Korea under the Daewoo Motor era, but it gradually became a GM [[world car]], sold under many different marques all around the globe. After a few years without any new cars to present, in 2005, GM Daewoo introduced the [[Holden]]-based [[Holden Caprice#WL|Statesman]] luxury car replacing the discontinued [[Daewoo Chairman]]. The third generation of [[Daewoo Matiz|Matiz]] was introduced, refreshed by the GM Daewoo design team, and an evolution of the four-door [[Daewoo Kalos|Kalos]] appeared: the [[Daewoo Kalos#T250|Gentra]].

In early 2006, GM Daewoo presented [[Daewoo Tosca|Tosca]], the replacement of the [[Daewoo Magnus|Magnus]]. GM Daewoo's official press releases says that Tosca is an acronym for "Tomorrow Standard Car". The end of the same year, GM Daewoo introduced the [[Daewoo Winstorm|Winstorm]], its first proper [[sport utility vehicle]] (SUV), which was, as the Lacetti, sold worldwide under different brands and names including [[Opel Antara]], [[Chevrolet]] Captiva and [[Holden]] Captiva, and previously [[Saturn (car)|Saturn Vue]] before the demise of the Saturn brand in 2010. It featured a [[common rail]] [[Diesel engine]] for the first time in a Daewoo vehicle, in addition to regular four and six cylinder gasoline engines. The diesel engine design was licensed from the Italian engine maker [[VM Motori]].

2007 saw the introduction of the Lacetti and Kalos hatchback facelift's [[wagon]] version, becoming the Gentra X. For 2008, GM Daewoo introduced the first Korean-branded roadster: the [[Saturn Sky|G2X]] sports car, a [[badge-engineered]] [[Pontiac Solstice]]/[[Saturn Sky]] which was based on the [[GM Kappa platform]], and started to sell the [[Opel Antara]] under the name of [[Daewoo Winstorm|Winstorm MaXX]]. The Statesman flagship was also replaced by the new [[Daewoo Veritas|Veritas]] which is now based on the [[Holden Caprice#WM|Holden Caprice V]]. In 2008, GM Korea built more than 1.9 million vehicles, including [[Complete Knock Down|CKD]] products.

Late 2008 and early 2009 were a major period for GM Daewoo with the introduction of the all-new [[Chevrolet Cruze|Lacetti Premiere]], which is based on the [[Chevrolet Cruze]], a very important compact car for GM divisions worldwide. The newly rechristened third generation of the Matiz was added to the range in 2009 as the [[Daewoo Matiz#Third generation (M300; 2009)|Chevrolet Spark]].

2010 saw the introduction of the [[Chevrolet Orlando]] and ''Alpheon'', a local version of the [[Buick LaCrosse]].

=== Establishment of GM Korea ===
[[File:Gm korea logo.png|thumb|120px|Former logo of GM Korea]]
On 20 January 2011, General Motors announced that GM Daewoo would be renamed ''GM Korea'' "to reflect Daewoo's heightened status in the global operations of GM",<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 January 2011 |title=GM introduces new name, brand for S. Korean unit |url=http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2011/01/20/33/0501000000AEN20110120004100320F.HTML |access-date=7 September 2011 |publisher=[[Yonhap News Agency]]}}</ref> effective March 2011. Most of the remaining Daewoo vehicles were [[Rebadging|rebadged]] as [[Chevrolet]]s, although the Damas/Labo microtrucks were sold without a brand name since 2011.<ref name="noname">{{Cite web |date=6 July 2011 |title=엠블럼 없는 유일한 車?…한국GM '다마스·라보' |trans-title=The only cars without emblems? GM Korea 'Damas Labo' |url=https://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=101&oid=003&aid=0003950346 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110002554/https://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=101&oid=003&aid=0003950346 |archive-date=10 November 2013 |publisher=Naver Corp. |language=ko}}</ref>

GM's luxury division [[Cadillac]] entered South Korea in 1996 and, with a record sales year of 28,000 units in 2017, South Korea became the fifth largest market for Cadillac worldwide (after China, the United States, Canada and the Middle East).

In 2011, the [[Daewoo Tosca]] was replaced by a locally built version of the [[Chevrolet Malibu]].

More recently, the low annual incomes a result of lower levels of sales, led to closing the non-profitable factories of the GM Korea unit.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lost in translation? GM plant shutdown shocks South Korea |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gm-southkorea/lost-in-translation-gm-plant-shutdown-shocks-south-korea-idUSKCN1G00TO |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417015442/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gm-southkorea/lost-in-translation-gm-plant-shutdown-shocks-south-korea-idUSKCN1G00TO |archive-date=17 April 2023 | date = 2018-02-16 | first1 = Hyunjoo | last1 = Jin | first2 = Ju-min | last2 = Park | first3 = Cynthia | last3 = Kim | website=[[Reuters]]}}</ref>

=== GM withdrawal from Europe and crisis ===
Starting from 2014, GM halted sales of all Chevrolet-branded cars in Europe, India, East and South Africa, most of which had up to then been manufactured completely or in part by GM Korea. In 2017, General Motors finalized its move out of the European market by selling the [[Opel]] and [[Vauxhall Motors|Vauxhall]] brands to [[PSA Group]] (now part of [[Stellantis]]). This caused closure of GM Korea's Gunsan plant due to low productivity. The [[GM Vietnam]] vehicle assembly plant in [[Hanoi]], which was managed by GM Korea, was sold to [[VinFast]] in 2018.<ref name="ft.com">{{Cite web |title=GM forms partnership with Vietnam's VinFast |url=https://www.ft.com/content/a8da1eb4-7aa9-11e8-bc55-50daf11b720d |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/a8da1eb4-7aa9-11e8-bc55-50daf11b720d |archive-date=10 December 2022 |website=Financial Times}} {{subscription required}}</ref>

In 2019, GM Korea split its R&D unit, GM Technical Center Korea (GMTCK), into a separate firm despite protests by unions worried about potential layoffs at factories.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GM’s Largest R&D Hub Outside U.S. Comes Down to Korean Talent |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-29/gm-s-largest-r-d-hub-outside-u-s-comes-down-to-korean-talent |access-date=10 April 2023 |website=[[Bloomberg News]] |language=en-US}}</ref> General Motors announced on 16 February 2020 that "as part of a strategy to exit markets that don't produce adequate returns on investments" it was exiting from all left-hand drive markets worldwide, including Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand. This coincided with the demise in 2020 of the [[Holden]] brand, hitherto a large distributor of GM Korea products.

In April 2022, GM Korea's Bupyeong 2 plant was closed due to reduced productivity.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 April 2022 |title=[화요기획] GM 부평2공장 연내 폐쇄 결정...인천 지역경제 요동 |url=http://www.joongang.tv/news/articleView.html?idxno=53925 |access-date=25 April 2022 |website=중앙신문 |language=ko}}</ref> The Spark and Malibu were to be discontinued in the South Korean market by August 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Koo |first=Ki-seong |date=12 July 2022 |title=한국지엠, 스파크·트랙스·말리부 단종 수순 |url=http://autotimes.hankyung.com/apps/news.sub_view?popup=0&nid=02&c1=02&c2=02&c3=00&nkey=202207111604461 |access-date=12 July 2022 |website=[[The Korea Economic Daily]] |language=ko}}</ref>

The Bolt EV and Bolt EUV were discontinued in the South Korean market on 1 December 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Site Maintenance |url=https://www.chevrolet.co.kr/electric/bolt-euv |access-date=2024-02-08 |website=www.chevrolet.co.kr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Site Maintenance |url=https://www.chevrolet.co.kr/electric/bolt-ev |access-date=2024-02-08 |website=www.chevrolet.co.kr}}</ref>

== Manufacturing facilities ==
* [[Bupyeong-gu]]: vehicle assembly and gasoline/LPG engine manufacturing (production capacity: est. 440,000/year)
* [[Changwon]]: vehicle assembly and gasoline/LPG engine manufacturing (production capacity: est. 210,000/year)
* [[Boryeong]]: transmission and engine components manufacturing

=== Former manufacturing facilities ===
;South Korea
* [[Gunsan]]: vehicle assembly and diesel engine manufacturing (production capacity: est. 260,000/year). Its plant closed on 31 May 2018. The factory was later acquired by the Chinese electric commercial vehicles company [[Geely#Farizon|Farizon]], which in conjunction with Myoung Shin. The company plans to manufacture [[Knock-down kit|CKD]]-made electric trucks for the South Korean market.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-06-01 |title=군산공장 인수한 명신, 4년 동안 생산은 전무 |language=ko |work=Hankyong |url=https://www.hankyung.com/article/2023060132722 |access-date=2023-06-01}}</ref> On May 29, it was announced that it would give up production of finished vehicles and switch to the automobile parts and automation equipment business.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-05-29 |title=명신 군산공장, 자동차부품·자동화설비 사업으로 전환 |language=ko |work=Newsis |url=https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20240529_0002753115 |access-date=2024-05-29}}</ref>

;Vietnam
* [[Hanoi]]: [[GM Vietnam]] vehicle assembly (production capacity: est. 11,000/year). Acquired by [[VinFast]] in 2018.<ref name="ft.com"/>

== Model range ==

=== Current locally manufactured models ===
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*[[Buick Encore GX]] (for export)
*[[Buick Envista]] (for export)
*[[Chevrolet Trailblazer (crossover)|Chevrolet Trailblazer]]
*[[Chevrolet Trax]]
{{div col end}}

=== Current imported models ===

==== Cadillac ====
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*[[Cadillac CT5|CT5-V Blackwing]]
*[[Cadillac Escalade]]
*[[Cadillac Lyriq]]
{{div col end}}

==== Chevrolet ====
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*[[Chevrolet Colorado#Third generation (2023–present)|Chevrolet Colorado]]
{{div col end}}

==== GMC ====
*[[Chevrolet Silverado|GMC Sierra]]

== See also ==
{{Portal|South Korea|Cars|Companies}}
* [[Daewoo Bus]]
* [[Daewoo Motor Sales]]
* [[List of Daewoo models]]
* [[Automotive industry in South Korea]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{official website}} {{in lang|ko}}
* [https://chevrolet.co.kr/ Chevrolet Korea] {{in lang|ko}}
* [https://cadillac.co.kr/ Cadillac Korea] {{in lang|ko}}
* [https://gmckorea.co.kr/ GMC Korea] {{in lang|ko}}
* [https://acdelco.co.kr/gmk/ Acdelco Korea] {{in lang|ko}}
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{{GM Korea}}
{{General Motors}}
{{Navboxes
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[[Category:GM Korea]]
[[Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2002]]
[[Category:Car manufacturers of South Korea]]
[[Category:Truck manufacturers of South Korea]]
[[Category:General Motors subsidiaries|General Motors Korea]]
[[Category:2002 establishments in Korea]]
[[Category:South Korean subsidiaries of foreign companies]]