GM Vice President to Visit Korea Next Week... Will Korea GM's Future Car Vision Be Discussed?

Korea GM Union Non-Combat Tour Return Visit

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Je-hoon] Steven Kiefer, Senior Vice President of General Motors (GM) and President of the Overseas Business Division (GMI), will visit Korea next week to assess the management situation of Korea GM. As Kiefer is responsible for GM's overseas business, attention is focused on whether he will present a new vision related to future vehicles such as electric vehicles to Korea GM, which is suffering from a shortage of work.

According to the industry on the 5th, Kiefer will visit Korea for a 4-night, 5-day schedule starting on the 8th. On the 9th, Kiefer is expected to meet with the Korea GM labor union, sequentially tour the Bupyeong, Changwon, and Boryeong plants, and then hold meetings with KDB Industrial Bank, the second-largest shareholder, and other government officials.

Kiefer's visit to Korea is a return visit following the 'Vision Tour' conducted by the Korea GM union leadership in June. Previously, the Korea GM union toured GM's Detroit headquarters and Mexico plant, while requesting the management to allocate future vehicles such as electric vehicles. At that time, Kiefer promised a return visit in August, but it was postponed once due to the rejection of a tentative agreement on wages and collective bargaining.

Along with semiconductor supply issues, the biggest focus during this 4-night, 5-day visit is whether future vehicles such as electric vehicles will be allocated. Since early this year, GM has announced an electrification blueprint to invest about 40 trillion won by 2025 to launch 30 electric vehicle models and to stop producing internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035, but there has been no significant news for Korea GM. Currently, the electric vehicles Bolt EV and EUV on sale are entirely dependent on imports.

Korea GM, which has suffered losses for seven consecutive years until last year, has no confirmed new vehicles except for the internal combustion-based crossover utility vehicle (CUV) scheduled to be produced at the Changwon plant in 2023. In particular, the Bupyeong 2 plant is in urgent need of securing successor volumes to replace the Trax and Malibu, which are highly likely to be discontinued soon.

For Korea GM, the allocation of future vehicles such as electric vehicles is a matter of survival. Since the closure of the Gunsan plant in 2018, GM and the Korea Development Bank have agreed to maintain production and employment for the next 10 years in exchange for public fund support. If future revenue sources cannot be secured, withdrawal discussions may resurface around 2030 when the agreement ends.

Meanwhile, the Korea GM union broke the chain of strikes for three consecutive years by settling this year's wage and collective bargaining without dispute. During the Vision Tour in June, Kiefer also told the union leadership, "Management is currently considering the vision for the Korea plant in 2030," adding, "A clear vision and future must be guaranteed, and labor-management cooperation is important." Recently, the union has also been conducting a public opinion campaign in the local community regarding the allocation of future vehicles.

Accordingly, the industry is paying close attention to whether Korea GM's future vehicle vision will be discussed during this visit. A representative from a Korea GM partner company expressed expectations, saying, "Although somewhat delayed, the union broke the chronic cycle of strikes by settling this year's wage and collective bargaining without dispute. Although semiconductors are holding back progress, the core model Trailblazer is also doing well."

A Korea GM official said, "Kiefer's visit is part of a tour of various regions as the president of the overseas business division," adding, "The transition to electric vehicles involves significant changes for existing production workers and parts suppliers, so it is difficult to approach this issue only in the short term."

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