GM plans to launch 10 EV models by 2025, but no local production
Steve Kiefer, senior vice president of GM, speaks during a press conference at the company's headquarters in Bupyeong District, Incheon, Friday. Courtesy of GM Korea
By Baek Byung-yeul
General Motors will aggressively expand into Korea's growing electric vehicle (EV) market, releasing 10 new EVs by 2025, but has no plans to manufacture any of them here, its Senior Vice President Steve Kiefer said Friday.
“Ten EVs will all be imported and those are not being produced in the country. We are not announcing any plans yet to produce electric vehicles in the county,” the executive said during a press conference at GM Korea's headquarters in Incheon's Bupyeong District.
Kiefer said GM's automotive plant in Korea will continue to concentrate on producing SUVs.
“It's so important that we keep our team focused on the continued success of the Trailblazer,” he added.
Kiefer arrived in Korea this week to visit GM's Korean production site as well as its vehicle design and engineering unit, GM Technical Center Korea (GMTCK), to check if the U.S. carmaker's investments in the Korean unit are going smoothly.
GM Korea said the senior vice president toured major facilities here, including GM Korea's car production plants in Incheon, Boryeong and Changwon, as well as GMTCK's vehicle testing facility at Cheongna Proving Ground, also in Incheon. GM is scheduled to produce its next-generation crossover utility vehicle here starting from 2023.
GM's Korean unit serves as a base for producing cars for the Korean and overseas markets. However, the annual production of the Korean unit has continued to decrease from around 520,000 in 2017 to 350,000 in 2020.
Currently, the role of GM Korea is focused on producing and exporting the Trailblazer mid-sized SUV. GM Korea said it exported 81,991 Trailblazers from January to June this year, the second-largest export record after Hyundai Motor's Kona SUV, whose exports totaled 98,773 vehicles.
When asked about the ongoing partnership with LG Energy Solution, LG Group's EV battery-making unit, Kiefer said the relationship between the two is very bright.
“Clearly more capacity is going to be required, so stay tuned for some additional announcements,” he said.
GM set up a joint venture with LG and has been building a battery manufacturing plant in the U.S. state of Ohio. They also announced that a second battery plant will be built in Tennessee. The Ohio plant is scheduled to be completed in 2022 while the Tennessee facility will be finished in late 2023.