Production Halt
It has been found that GM Korea halted the production of the All New Cruze on February 9 due to some problems associated with an airbag component that has yet to be specified. According to industry sources, the situation is unlikely to be resolved until the end of this month.
GM Korea began to produce the All New Cruze in its manufacturing facilities located in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province on February 6. During the presale period from January 17 to February 8, the company signed more than 2,000 contracts for this model. However, the delivery of the vehicles and the initiation of sale previously scheduled for this month are likely to be put off due to the production schedule problem.
“We temporarily stopped the production line because of an airbag defect and we made the decision in the interest of the initial quality of the new vehicle,” the automaker explained, continuing, “We are planning to resume production operations in the near future so that our customers can get their vehicles as scheduled before the end of this month.”
“The likelihood of a new vehicle’s success tends to be negatively affected to a significant extent in the case of a quality problem preceding its release and a delivery delay attributable to the problem,” said an industry insider, adding, “It seems that GM Korea lost the trust of lots of customers this time.”