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Old 05-18-2008, 04:34 PM   #44 (permalink)
SierraGS
3.9 Liter V6
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: SoCal
Drives: '04 Sierra '02 Regal GS "05 PT Cruiser
Posts: 941
Re: GM considers selling Chevrolets in South Korea

Quote:
Originally Posted by BigThreeForever View Post
Good luck to GM with this one. Excuse me while I stop smirking.

The Koreans have one of the most - perhaps the most - restricted markets in the developed world. They use any and all methods to deter foreign penetration.

Not sure if this classic is still being used, but here goes: buyers of imported cars are (or were) singled out for a special tax audit by the local tax inspectors.

Or try this one: dealers in imported cars are (or were) allocated crappy backstreet lots well away from main dealership traffic and are limited to a certain size (i.e X square meters only).

The South Koreans are not a stupid people. Far, far from it. Their government is far more shrewd and nationalistic than the naive free-market, open-borders crowd who mismanage America and Europe and their rapidly dying industrial bases.

As a matter of interest, check out how many Japanese cars are (or aren't) sold in South Korea.

These people are very, very smart.
As in my post on Chevy in Australia, the South Korean market is probably not large enough to support two volume GM brands, when you add strong nationalism (good for them) it makes more sense for GM to add any Chevy models it may want add in South Korea as Daewoo models except for the Corvette which can be sold with Cadillac.
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