[Mediapen=Kim Sang-jun] 14 days have passed since United Automobile Workers(UAW) have gone on strike at General Motors. As the strike is expected to last longer, Korean consumers may experience shortages. 

According to foreign press, UAW union and General Motors failed to come to a settlement during the weekend. 

   
▲ UAW union on strike against GM/Source=CNN


Even though it is the first strike since 2007, the situation seems quite serious. GM estimates that the strike will cost them $100 million a day, adding up to at least $1 billion since the start of strike. Besides the continuing loss, massive shortage of vehicles may occur once all the produced vehicles are sold. GM is known to have inventory of vehicles to last around 70 days.

Models including Traverse, Colorado and Bolt EV are currently imported into Korea. Unless the strike stops soon, Korean consumers will start to notice shortages. The strike may especially hurt the sales of Traverse and Colorado. GM Korea is desperately in need of smooth demand and supply of those models as the popularity for SUVs in Korea surge.

   
▲ Chevrolet Traverse/Source=GM Korea

Meanwhile, GM Korea’s unionized workers are also still engaged in full strike. The union are making unreasonable demands despite worsening profitability and the company is refusing to meet their demands.

“The strike is likely to prolong. GM Korea may have difficulty in securing enough supply of Traverse and Colorado,” said an official from the automobile industry. “The newly launched Traverse has been receiving favorable response from the market. If customers notice shortage, they will turn to models from competitors.”