The South Korean unit of General Motors said on Nov. 25 it would shut down its main plant for one month from December 1 because of slow sales. GM Daewoo said it would suspend production at its plant in Bupyeong, west of Seoul from December 1 to January 4. It would be the first such shutdown since GM took over Daewoo in 2002.
The Bupyeong factory produces Tosca sedans, Windstorm sport-utility vehicles and compact cars for the local market. It also exports the same models to Asia and Europe under the GM brand.
"As we announced earlier, production at our other plants will be suspended for two weeks from December 22 to January 4," a GM Daewoo spokesman said. "The shutdown is inevitable to reduce inventories as we face poor sales at home and abroad," he said.
In October GM Daewoo reported that its auto sales declined 11.3% from a year earlier to 73,180.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008