SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Yonhap) — GM Korea Co., the South Korean branch of General Motors Co., announced Friday that its sales rose 74 percent last month from the same period last year, largely due to strong shipment numbers.
GM Korea sold a total of 31,716 vehicles in August, up from 18,208 vehicles the year prior, mainly thanks to the Trailblazer compact SUV, the company stated in a release.
Domestic sales dropped 8.2 percent year-over-year to 3,297 vehicles in August from 3,590, while exports soared 94 percent to 28,419 from 14,618 in the same period.
From January to August, sales increased 72 percent to 286,727 autos from 166,745 units the previous year.
Domestic sales rose 5.8 percent to 26,424 in the first eight months from 24,973 a year prior, while exports increased 84 percent to 260,303 from 141,772.
GM Korea employs a two-track strategy, selling both locally produced and imported vehicles in the Asian country.
Its lineup includes two locally assembled models, the Trailblazer SUV and the Trax Crossover, and six imported ones — the Colorado pickup, the Bolt all-electric car, and the Equinox, Traverse and Tahoe SUVs, as well as the GMC brand’s Sierra Denali pickup.
The Spark mini car, Trax compact SUV and the Malibu midsize sedan were previously part of the lineup, but the company stopped their production last year.
Most of the models currently sold in South Korea are from the Chevrolet brand. The Cadillac brand models are also available in the country.
GM Korea intends to add more GMC brand models to its lineup, depending on market demand.
This file photo provided by GM Korea shows the Trailblazer compact SUV. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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