Chevrolet Europe will continue to source the majority of its products from Korea as a European Union (EU) free trade agreement with the far east country is being negotiated.
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Speaking at the Paris Motor Show today (30 September), Chevrolet Europe president Wayne Brannon outlined the importance of the relationship with Korea in the light of the crucial EU talks.
“GM Korea has been very supportive of the business in Europe and we see that as the best way to go forward,” he said. “The economics have become more attractive because of the decision to provide a free trade agreement between the EU and Korea.
“If that happens, it will make Korea a lot more attractive for the EU and we expect it will happen.”
Brannon added sourcing from afar meant foreign exchange rates played a part while the economy in general had been affected by the sovereign debt issues in Europe of only a few months ago.
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By GlobalData“The Korean won has been strengthening and, with the euro declining, that is a very dramatic effect,” he said. “We manage the foreign exchange risk and we think we are in a pretty good place now.”
Brannon conceded he could consider producing vehicles closer to the market – “who knows?” – but insisted, for the majority of what Chevrolet Europe was doing, it had made a long-term commitment.
The Chevrolet boss also batted back suggestions that upheaval at parent GM and Opel/Vauxhall in Europe had affected his brand. “The difficulties Opel/Vauxhall went through did not really affect us as, fortunately, we had the ability to hold market share in 2009,” he said.
“We were not under the radar, we were just fortunate our dealers were able to sell our products [while] scrappage schemes in Italy, the UK, Spain, Germany and France helped.”
Chevrolet Europe has endured a challenging time of late in Russia, with the country’s slump contributing to a 16% drop in sales to 426,000 last year but Brannon maintains a corner has been turned.
“The middle class is starting to re-emerge,” he said. “I have been talking to guys who say the market is growing to become more than 3m.
“We have the highest market share and a good dealer network. We have a range of cars that makes sense – we will recover with the market.”
