Questions raised over General Motors (GM) South Korea production volumes, Holden's future

Political tensions, labour trouble, and rising costs of labour and logistics cause GM to continue to cut back on its production in South Korea.

Questions are being raised over General Motors' South Korean production volumes as the automaker decides to phase out Chevrolet sales in Europe, reports Dow Jones Newswires. The speculation comes as GM has announced a radical overhaul of its European brand strategy to concentrate on the Opel and Vauxhall brands in mainstream European markets, while Chevrolet will be withdrawn from these markets by 2016. This has raised concerns in South Korea, as GM Korea produces approximately 90% of the Chevrolet cars sold in Western and Eastern Europe. Meanwhile, the media is also rife with speculation that GM's Australian operations will cease – with GM Holden planning to exit Australia in 2016 – although the government denied such reports last week.