GM to Shut Down Factories in Russia, Thailand
4 March 2015 16:04 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Following the decision to shut down its factory in Indonesia, General Motors (GM) also plan to shut down its factories in Russia and Thailand.
GM was forced to shut down their Russian factory due to the political instability currently happening in the country. "We will shut down our St. Petersburg factory starting this March," said Karl-Thomas Neumann, CEO of General Motors Europe, in Geneva, on March 3, 2015.
Russia was actually GM's third largest market. However, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine caused sales to drop drastically by 27.4 percent. In general, the automotive market in Russia dropped by a total of 10 percent.
Meanwhile in Thailand, GM announced to shut down their Chevrolet Sonic factory this year and cause3,200 employees to lose their jobs.
Despite shutting down two of their plants in Southeast Asia, GM will continue to market its cars in the region. The company’s signature vehicles, the Trailblazer (SUV), Colorado (pickup), and Cruze (sedan), will still be available on the market as a representation of America’s fine line of automobiles.
ANDI RUSLI | REUTERS