The 2nd Best Seller in U.S. Small SUV Market

GM Korea’s TrailBlazers roll on a cargo vessel on April 26.

Exports of the Trailblazer, a compact SUV developed and mass-produced by GM Korea, surpassed 200,000 units in March 2021. After a year and two months of mass-production, the vehicle has become a cash cow for GM Korea.

The Trailblazer ranked second in the U.S. compact SUV market in the first quarter of 2021. The Buick Encore GX, which uses the same platform as the Trailblazer, placed 5th.

GM Korea said 25,024 units of the TrailBlazer were sold in the U.S. market in the first quarter of 2021, outselling Hyundai Motor's Kona (22,610 units).

GM Korea's Logistics Team is making all-out efforts to protect employees from COVID-19. This is because if an employee tests positive, it may make a problem in the company’s shipping schedule. GM Korea has been in close contact with its U.S. headquarters regarding a semiconductor shortage. GM Korea’s shipments in April decreased slightly from the January-March period.

Based on the popularity of the Trailblazer, GM Korea is aiming to turn a profit in 2021, making a turnaround for the first time in eight years since 2013.

However, GM Korea's labor-management relationship is a variable as its labor union staged partial strikes a total of 15 times in 2020. Recently, the labor union confirmed its demands in wage negotiations for 2021. They want a basic wage raise of 99,000 won per month and four million won in incentives. Considering the average ordinary wage of GM Korea's executives and employees, the demand is to increase annual salaries by about 10 million won per production worker. GM Korea's executives are reluctant to accept the labor union’s demands.

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