GM's South Korea unit extends plant shutdown

SEOUL: The South Korean unit of General Motors Corp said on Tuesday it will extend a planned production shutdown due to weakening demand for autos overseas.

Production at GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co's No. 2 plant in the city of Bupyeong, near Seoul, will cease from Dec. 1 until Jan. 4, said Park Hae-ho, a company spokesman.

GM Daewoo had earlier said that the plant, along with three others in South Korea, would close down from Dec. 22 until Jan. 4.

``We are adjusting our manufacturing plans, coping with decreasing demand from overseas markets,'' Park said.

GM Daewoo sold nearly 960,000 vehicles last year, most of them exported.

The company is South Korea's third-largest automaker, trailing Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp.

GM Daewoo was created in 2002 after Detroit-based General Motors acquired Daewoo Motor Co., the automobile unit of the Daewoo Group, a huge conglomerate that collapsed under mountains of debt as a result of the 1997-98 Asian economic crisis.