GM Korea's Dec. sales dip 8.5 pct on lower demand

SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Yonhap) -- GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., said Thursday its sales fell 8.5 percent last month from a year earlier due mainly to a slump at home and abroad.

GM Korea sold 38,818 vehicles in December, down from 42,424 units the previous year, the company said in a statement.

Domestic sales plunged 15 percent to 8,820 units last month from 10,428 a year ago. Exports declined 6.2 percent to 29,998 from 31,996 over the cited period, it said.

GM Korea launched the U.S.-made Equinox SUV and the upgraded Chevrolet Spark minicar in 2018, and the midsize Colorado pickup truck and the Traverse SUV last year. But the vehicles didn't help buoy the company's sales.

For the whole of 2019, its sales fell 9.9 percent to 417,226 autos from 462,871 in the year-ago period, the statement said.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
(END)