The No. 1 US automaker, which warned last year that
persistent industrial action was preventing further investment in South Korea,
builds EVs in the United States and China. It also has plans to build the
vehicles in Mexico and Canada.
Kiefer's visit after a Korean labour union delegation went
to Detroit in June had led to speculation in local media that he could announce
new EV production plans.
"We are not announcing any plans yet to produce
electric vehicles in the county, so stay tuned for that," Kiefer told a
media briefing.
GM's South Korea unit builds about 600,000 vehicles a year,
shipping many to the United States including the popular Chevrolet Trailblazer
SUV, and employs about 12,000 people. It reported an operating loss of KRW 309
billion last year.
Kiefer also said GM's partnership with South Korea battery
maker LG Energy Solution was "very bright".
"Clearly more (battery) capacity is going to be
required, so stay tuned for some additional announcements," he said.
GM and LG are building two battery cell manufacturing plants
with a combined annual production capacity of about 70 gigawatt hours in the
United States, which could power about 1 million EVs.
In October, GM said LG units had agreed to reimburse it for
$2 billion in estimated costs and expenses associated with a recall of Bolt
electric vehicles . © Reuters
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