SEOUL– GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., said Thursday its sales fell 4.4 percent last month from a year earlier amid a global chip shortage.
GM Korea sold 15,700 vehicles in May, down from 16,428 units a year ago, as disruptions in chip supplies continued to affect vehicle production and sales, the company said in a statement.
Domestic sales plunged 40 percent on-year to 2,768 units last month from 4,597, but exports rose 9.3 percent to 12,932 from 11,831 over the cited period on strong demand for the Trailblazer SUV, it said.
From January to May, sales declined 25 percent to 96,068 autos from 127,907 a year earlier.
In a two-track brand strategy, GM Korea sells domestically produced and imported vehicles in Asia’s fourth-biggest economy.
Its lineup is composed of four locally assembled models — the Spark mini car, the Malibu sedan and the Trailblazer and Trax SUVs — and five imported ones — the Colorado pickup, the Bolt all-electric car and the Equinox, Traverse and Tahoe SUVs.
Most of the models currently sold in South Korea are from the Chevrolet brand.
Source: Yonhap News Agency