GM Korea's Feb. sales fall 14 pct on lower demand

SEOUL, March 2 (Yonhap) -- GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., said Monday its sales fell 14 percent last month from a year earlier on lower demand for its models.

GM Korea sold 28,126 vehicles in February, down from 32,718 units the previous year, the company said in a statement.

GM Korea stopped some assembly lines of its main plant in Bupyeong, just west of Seoul, for two days in February, as its Chinese parts suppliers halted operations due to an extended Lunar New Year holiday aimed at ending the spread of the virus outbreak there.

Domestic sales declined 3.8 percent to 4,978 units in February from 5,177 units a year ago. Exports were down 16 percent to 23,148 autos from 27,541 during the same period the year before, it said.

GM Korea launched the U.S.-made Equinox SUV and upgraded Chevrolet Spark minicar in 2018 and the midsize Colorado pickup truck and 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.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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