Total sales reach 41,101 units in September, up 73% year-on-year

Overseas sales hit 40,374 units, up 80% from a year earlier

Trax exports up 79%, Trailblazer exports up 82%

Domestic sales fall 41% to just 727 units

The Chevrolet Trax Crossover [GM Korea]
The Chevrolet Trax Crossover [GM Korea]

General Motors' Korean operations posted September sales more than 70 percent above the same month a year earlier, as surging exports of the Trax Crossover and Trailblazer more than offset a sharp decline in domestic demand.

GM Korea said Thursday it sold a total of 41,101 finished vehicles in September — 727 units domestically and 40,374 overseas — a 73.3 percent increase from the same month last year.

Overseas sales drove the improvement. September exports reached 40,374 units, up 79.5 percent from a year earlier and up 81.0 percent from 22,311 units in August.

The Trax Crossover led the way with 27,439 units sold abroad, a 78.6 percent year-on-year gain and a 50.6 percent increase from the previous month. The Trailblazer also performed strongly, with 12,935 units exported — up 81.5 percent from a year earlier and a 216.4 percent jump from August.

Domestic sales, however, fell to 727 units, down 40.9 percent from the same month last year and 0.5 percent below August.

By model, the Trax Crossover sold 588 units in the domestic market, down 41.9 percent year-on-year. The Trailblazer sold 121 units, a 36.3 percent decline, while the Sierra sold 18 units, down 21.7 percent.

The export momentum lifted cumulative figures as well. GM Korea's combined domestic and overseas sales for the January–September period reached 381,785 units, up 17.0 percent from the same period last year.

Cumulative overseas sales totaled 374,290 units, a 19.0 percent increase. The Trax Crossover accounted for 244,534 units, up 15.2 percent, while the Trailblazer contributed 129,756 units, up 26.7 percent.

The gap between domestic and export performance was equally stark on a cumulative basis. Domestic sales for January through September came to 7,495 units, down 36.4 percent from the same period a year earlier. The Trax Crossover fell 36.0 percent to 6,007 units, and the Trailblazer dropped 36.6 percent to 1,291 units.

Last year, GM Korea sold 15,094 vehicles domestically while exporting 447,216 finished vehicles. Its Korean plants function primarily as a global export hub for compact SUVs rather than a domestic sales base — a pattern that has continued this year.

To sustain that export competitiveness, GM has committed $600 million in investment at its Korean facilities this year, with plans to upgrade products and factory equipment and strengthen the plants' role as a global compact SUV hub.

GM is also counting on new models to reverse the domestic sales slump. On Wednesday, the company officially announced Buick's entry into the Korean market and unveiled the brand's first model for local consumers — the Electra E7, a plug-in hybrid electric SUV. Priced between 43 million and 54 million won ($39,800), the vehicle can travel up to 126 kilometers on battery power alone and more than 1,000 kilometers when the engine and motor are used together.


kwater@heraldcorp.com