Korea GM to Resume Production at Bupyeong 1 and 2 Plants from Today... Operating Rate at Half

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Je-hoon] Considering the impact of the vehicle semiconductor supply shortage, Korea GM has adjusted the daily operating rate of its domestic production lines to about half. Although the production situation has improved compared to last week when there was a shutdown for a week, there is still a strong sense of crisis as production disruptions are occurring even in popular models whose sales are expanding in the US and other regions.

According to the industry on the 26th, Korea GM will resume operations at Bupyeong Plants 1 and 2 starting today. Bupyeong Plants 1 and 2 had suspended operations from the 19th to the 23rd due to a shortage of vehicle semiconductors such as microcontroller units (MCU).

The problem is that this is not a 'complete' resumption of operations. Since the vehicle semiconductor supply shortage has not been fundamentally resolved, Korea GM decided to reduce the operating rates to about 50% not only at Bupyeong Plants 1 and 2 but also at Changwon Plant, which had not been affected before. The industry estimates that Bupyeong Plant 2, which has maintained a 50% operating rate since February, likely experienced production disruptions of about 5,000 units per month, meaning this situation is now spreading to Bupyeong Plant 1 and Changwon Plant as well.

This is an embarrassing situation for Korea GM. This is because even models with high sales both domestically and overseas are being affected. Representative examples are the Trailblazer, a compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) produced at Bupyeong Plant 1, and its sibling model, the Buick Encore GX. These two models ranked 2nd (25,024 units) and 5th (18,435 units) respectively in the US compact SUV market in the first quarter, making them popular models.

In particular, these models were key models that led Korea GM's performance improvement, making the situation more regrettable. Korea GM exported a total of 72,671 units in the first quarter, a 7.7% increase compared to the previous year, among which leisure vehicles (RVs) including the Trailblazer increased by 23.9% to 63,707 units.

With the urgency of the situation, Korea GM is actively responding, but the problem is that there is no clear solution. It is reported that Kaher Kazem, President of Korea GM, visited the US headquarters earlier this month to discuss current issues such as the vehicle semiconductor supply plan.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.