GM Korea’s Changwon plant dates to 1991, when Daewoo opened it as a dedicated line for smaller and lighter vehicles - the Damas van, the Labo pickup, and later the Matiz and Spark city cars. General Motors acquired most of Daewoo’s automotive assets in 2002, forming what became GM Korea, and Changwon carried on building the company’s smallest models for another two decades.
That changed with the current Chevrolet Trax Crossover, which began mass production at Changwon in February 2023 and is now the plant’s sole product. Changwon runs on a two-shift schedule with an estimated annual capacity of around 210,000 vehicles and roughly 3,500 employees, smaller in output than GM Korea’s other Korean assembly site, Bupyeong, which builds the Trailblazer. Most of what Changwon builds leaves the country: the Trax Crossover is one of the highest-volume Chevrolets sold in North America, and it is a Korean-built car in every sense except its badge.
GM Korea’s shareholders are General Motors, the state-owned Korea Development Bank, and China’s SAIC. A 2018 rescue package that kept the company in South Korea carries a commitment against a GM exit that runs to 2028.
