One out of 3 U.S. compact SUVs was exported from GM Korea

GM Korea announced on Sunday that one-third of all SUVs sold in the U.S. in the first half of this year were exported after being produced at GM Korea factories in Korea.

When it comes to the sales of compact SUVs in the first half of the year in the United States, the Chevrolet “Trax” sold by General Motors (GM) ranked first with 50,708 units. If it is combined with Buick’s Encore and Encore GX, and Chevrolet's Trailblazer, GM sold 93,538 units of small SUVs, making GM's market share 31.9% out of the top 15 models sold in the nation. Those four GM models are produced by GM Korea and are sold with “Made in Korea” as their origin.

The sales of GM Korea-produced vehicles continued to be strong after the first quarter. Although car sales in the United States were sluggish due to COVID-19, Chevrolet Trax maintained the No. 1 sales of small SUVs with 22,466 units in the second quarter of the year, following 28,242 units of the previous quarter.

The Buick Encore, which shares the chassis and powertrain with Trax, were sold 24,271 units in total in the first half of this year, increasing the number of units sold in second quarter by about 10,000 units following 14,238 units in the first quarter.


Hyung-Seok Seo skytree08@donga.com