SEOUL, Feb. 7 (Yonhap) -- GM Korea Co., the South Korean arm of General Motors Co., said Wednesday it will continue talks with its business partners to improve its competitiveness and cost base.
GM's Korean unit also said its goal is to remain profitable and viable in Asia's fourth-biggest economy.
The response comes after GM CEO Mary Barra said the Korean unit must take actions to be "viable," on an earnings conference call with analysts on Tuesday (U.S. time).
Referring to GM Korea, Barra said, "We're going to have to take actions going forward to have a viable business."
Over the past three years, GM scaled down or shut down businesses in markets such as Russia, India and Indonesia due to poor performances. Last year, the Detroit-based carmaker sold German unit Opel and U.K. brand Vauxhall to France's PSA Group for $2.3 billion.
GM executives have pointed to high manufacturing costs and weak sales of its vehicles in Korea as major obstacles to continuing business presence.
In 2017, GM Korea saw its overall sales slump 12 percent, falling to 524,547 vehicles from 597,165 units a year earlier. In January, its sales fell 9.5 percent on-year to 42,402 from 46,842.
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