The South Korean unit of General Motors Co. on March 2 reported a 48.3% year-over-year drop in domestic sales to 5,804 vehicles for the month of February.
GM Korea said 30,921 vehicles were exported during the period, bringing total sales to 36,725 units.
The decline can be attributed to customers' concerns over the planned closure of GM Korea's Gunsan facility to cut costs, Reuters reported the same day. Samsung Securities analyst Esther Yim told the newswire that the uncertainty of GM's operations in the country is causing customers to worry about the possible drawbacks of owning a GM vehicle, particularly weaker after-service.
The Detroit automaker has been restructuring its Korean operations after years of operating losses. The company recently offered to invest a fresh $2.8 billion into the unit and proposed to freeze base wages and remove employee bonuses in 2018 to cut costs.
