Wednesday, February 1, 2023
  • Home
  • Marketing Strategies
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
Business News
  • Home
  • Personal Finance
  • Business Trends
  • Business Ideas
  • Marketing Strategies
  • Stock Market
No Result
View All Result
Business News
Home Business Trends

GM Plans to Pull Out of Australia, New Zealand and Thailand

citof_l7l8ib by citof_l7l8ib
February 20, 2020
in Business Trends
0
GM Plans to Pull Out of Australia, New Zealand and Thailand
0
SHARES
74
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

By TOM KRISHER, AP Auto Writer

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors decision to pull out of Australia, New Zealand and Thailand as part of a strategy to exit markets that don’t produce adequate returns on investments raised dismay Monday from officials concerned over job losses.

Related posts

US Consumer Prices up 0.1% in January; Gasoline Prices Fall

US Consumer Prices up 0.1% in January; Gasoline Prices Fall

February 21, 2020
Spain Disputes Tech Show Was Canceled for Health Motives

Spain Disputes Tech Show Was Canceled for Health Motives

February 21, 2020

The company said in a statement Sunday that it plans to wind down sales, engineering and design operations for its historic Holden brand in Australia and New Zealand in 2021. It also plans to sell its Rayong factory in Thailand to China’s Great Wall Motors and withdraw the Chevrolet brand from Thailand by the end of this year.

“This is a very disappointing outcome,” said Karen Andrews, Australia’s minister for Industry, Science and Technology. She said it was unfortunate both because about 500 workers would loose their jobs, but also because “they only advised the government of this decision just before the announcement.”

Dave Smith of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union also expressed chagrin.

Workers at Holden had thought they’d “been through the worst of it, and that’s not the case,” Smith said. “For many of them their long-term workers have been very loyal to the company … they’ve loved being part of the car industry, and now, it was such an iconic brand coming to an end; it’ll mean an end to their jobs.”

GM has 828 employees in Australia and New Zealand and another 1,500 in Thailand, the company said.

In Thailand, the decision to sell GM’s plant in Rayong, south of Bangkok, may well end up being good news for workers there.

Great Wall Motors, a major maker of sport utility vehicles and pickups, said it intends to expand in Southeast Asia using the plant in Thailand as its base.

“We will also promote the development of the local supply chain, research and development and related industries, plus contribute more to the exchequer of both the local Rayong and Thailand governments,” Great Wall’s vice president for global strategy, Liu Xiangshang.

Thailand is still determined to be the “Detroit of Asia,” Krichanont Iyapunya, a spokesman for the Ministry of Industry said. He said plant closures and openings happen constantly.

“The automobile industry must be adaptive,” Krichanont said.

Liu, of Great Wall Motors, said the Thai expansion was part of the company’s global push, following the launch of a plant in Tula in Russia in 2019 and plans to acquire GM’s Talegaon plant in India.

GM has struggled in Asia in the past year. Its International Operations, which include China, lost $200 million last year, including $100 million in the fourth quarter. It analyzed the business case for future production at the Rayong plant, but low utilization of its capacity and low sales volumes “made continued GM production at the site unsustainable,” the company said.

GM’s CEO, Mary Barra, said the company wants to focus on markets where it can drive strong returns, scaling back operations in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand to selling niche specialty vehicles. GM will support its employees and customers in the transition, she said.

GM is making the same moves in Japan, Russia and Europe, where “we don’t have significant scale,” she said.

“We are pursuing a niche presence by selling profitable high-end imported vehicles supported by a lean GM structure,” International Operations Senior Vice President Julian Blissett said in the statement.

GM said it will honor all warranties in the markets, and it will continue to provide service and parts. Local operations also will handle recalls and any safety-related issues, the company said.

The Detroit automaker expects to take $1.1 billion worth of cash and noncash charges this year as it cuts operations in the three countries.

GM has a long history in Australia with the Holden brand, where cars were designed and sold in the U.S. and other markets. The 2008 and 2009 Pontiac G8 muscle car, for instance, was designed as a Holden Commodore and built in Australia. But Holden’s market share, which was nearly 22% in 2002, fell to just over 4% last year.

GM President Mark Reuss, who once ran the Australian operations, said the company explored options to continue Holden, “but none could overcome the challenges of the investments needed for the highly fragmented right-hand-drive market, the economics to support growing the brand, and delivering an appropriate return on investment,” he said in the statement.

___

AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach and reporter Preeyapa Temcharoen in Bangkok contributed.

Tags: Associated PressBusiness IdeasBusiness NewsBusiness PlanningCollections BusinessCollections Top NewsCollections USFinance IdeasMichigan
Previous Post

10 Ways to Boost Employee Satisfaction

Next Post

Top 15 Places You Can Sell Handmade Products Locally

Next Post
Top 15 Places You Can Sell Handmade Products Locally

Top 15 Places You Can Sell Handmade Products Locally

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

RECOMMENDED NEWS

Macron Vows 'Fight of the Century” Against Climate Change

Macron Vows 'Fight of the Century” Against Climate Change

3 years ago
5 Clues That You're Dealing With a Predatory Lender

5 Clues That You're Dealing With a Predatory Lender

3 years ago
Bloomberg Once Blamed End of 'Redlining' for 2008 Collapse

Bloomberg Once Blamed End of 'Redlining' for 2008 Collapse

3 years ago
8 Tech Stocks Building the 'Phygital' World

8 Tech Stocks Building the 'Phygital' World

3 years ago

FOLLOW US

BROWSE BY CATEGORIES

  • Business Ideas
  • Business Trends
  • Marketing Strategies
  • Personal Finance
  • Stock Market

BROWSE BY TOPICS

Amazon.com Apple Inc. Associated Press Banking and Credit Best Stocks Business Growth Business Ideas Business News Business Planning Business Trends Collections Business Collections Political Collections Top News Collections US Collections World Debt Facebook Finance Ideas Financial Advisors financial literacy Geoff Williams Google interest rates investing Investing 101 John Divine loans Local Marketing Management news Marketing Strategies Marketing Tips Maryalene LaPonsie money personal budgets personal finance picks Small Business Trends stock market Stock Market News stock portfolio student loans Susan Johnston Taylor Susannah Snider technology Wayne Duggan

POPULAR NEWS

  • 20 Things Your Business Still Doesn’t Get About Hyperlocal Marketing

    20 Things Your Business Still Doesn’t Get About Hyperlocal Marketing

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • US Consumer Prices up 0.1% in January; Gasoline Prices Fall

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Spain Disputes Tech Show Was Canceled for Health Motives

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • 5 Reasons Your Local SEO Company Isn’t Providing Results

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Why Hyperlocal Advertising Works So Well for Local Businesses

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Business News

Citof.com is a collection of innovative and powerful news brands that deliver compelling, Push the latest news, videos, and photos on finance, industry trends, money, and more.

Follow us on social media:

Recent News

  • 20 Things Your Business Still Doesn’t Get About Hyperlocal Marketing
  • US Consumer Prices up 0.1% in January; Gasoline Prices Fall
  • 5 Reasons Your Local SEO Company Isn’t Providing Results

Category

  • Business Ideas
  • Business Trends
  • Marketing Strategies
  • Personal Finance
  • Stock Market

Recent News

20 Things Your Business Still Doesn’t Get About Hyperlocal Marketing

20 Things Your Business Still Doesn’t Get About Hyperlocal Marketing

February 21, 2020
US Consumer Prices up 0.1% in January; Gasoline Prices Fall

US Consumer Prices up 0.1% in January; Gasoline Prices Fall

February 21, 2020
  • Home
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

© 2020 Small Business News. All rights reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Personal Finance
  • Business Trends
  • Business Ideas
  • Stock Market
  • Marketing Strategies

© 2020 Small Business News. All rights reserved

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In