Chevrolet owners in South Korea are seeing their long-standing worries become a bitter reality.
GM Korea has decided to sharply cut its company-run service network—the customer-facing frontline—after failing to reverse chronic weak domestic sales and mounting losses.
With the brand’s basic post-sale safety net gone, everyday customers in Korea will shoulder most of the resulting service headaches.
Only 3 of 9 company-run centers remain; employees to receive 10 million KRW (≈ $6,700)
According to industry sources, GM Korea and the union recently agreed to close six of nine company-run service centers nationwide, leaving only locations in Daejeon, Jeonju and Changwon.
The three centers that remain will be repositioned as Service and Repair Technology Centers. Along with the existing Incheon Bupyeong High‑Tech Center, they will focus less on routine maintenance and more on high‑level diagnostics and technical support for advanced-technology vehicles.
Employees who lose their jobs because of the closures will receive a one-time payment of 10 million KRW (≈ $6,700). Many face difficult reassignments to entirely different roles at production plants in Bupyeong or Changwon.
Domestic sales plunge to about 15,000; roughly 460,000 Korea‑made vehicles headed overseas
The cuts mirror a starkly polarized performance structure at GM Korea.
In 2025, GM Korea sold just 15,094 units domestically—a 39.2% decline from the previous year. By contrast, exports topped 447,000 units and total production at Korean plants stayed near 460,000 units.
Put another way, roughly 97% of the vehicles built in Korea were exported.
With factories operating primarily for export and domestic demand near rock bottom, the company has little commercial justification to sustain a costly nationwide company‑run service network for the local market.
“Do we have to travel out of town for repairs?” Owners vent frustration
The biggest victims of the move are Chevrolet owners who trusted the brand and paid for that promise of support.
Major repairs—EV battery work, serious engine defects and complex electronic-system diagnostics—typically require company‑run centers because independent shops often lack the tools and training.
With specialized company-run centers now reduced to a handful nationwide, owners may have to drive dozens of miles to another region for a single repair.
That will inevitably increase appointment wait times. Company executives describe the cuts as a painful but necessary step to cut short‑term losses. Critics argue the move erodes the last vestiges of customer trust the brand would need to revive domestic sales.
