Some After-sales Services Suspended to Cut Costs

The GM Korea has stopped updating its navigation systems for Chevrolet brand models that are more than five years old.

The GM Korea brand Chevrolet has stopped updating its navigation systems for models that are more than five years old. Customers who bought these models are complaining about it and the labor union criticized the company, saying that it has given up after-sales service.

Since November 2018, Chevrolet has stopped updating navigation maps for the Alpheon, Malibu, Orlando, Cruze and Cruze 5 cars rolled out before 2014, said sources in the automobile industry on April 7. In addition, most of the navigation services for the Tosca and Winstorm/Captiva were brought to a halt at the end of last year.

The suspension of the navigation map update service is blamed on the expiration of GM Korea’s maintenance service contracts with Citus, a company that has been updating navigation systems for GM Korea cars. Updates and emergency call services came to an end as well.

Customers are fuming. Many users posted complaints on an internet community site for GM car owners in Korea. "We drive our cars for much longer than five years. The company’s decision is not fair and does not make sense,” a customer said.

"After the end of five-year warranties, we have the right to terminate services under contracts," GM Korea asserted. "As software specifications have advanced and machines have become more sophisticated, investment cost for older models has also grown, which has become a big burden on us." GM Korea has given up some after-sales services as they had been bent on slashing costs since starting intensive management normalization efforts last year.

In addition, services for recently sold vehicles have become a problem. In March of this year, GM Korea suspended navigation map download services for its latest models, including the New Malibu, the 2019 Equinox, and the Camaro, forcing owners of the models to buy new SD cards.

As GM Korea reduced its investment in after-sale services, the labor union criticized the company, saying, "A cut in after-sales service is like giving up the market."

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