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Why General Motors is pulling out of SA and how it’ll affect motorists

This morning, US car manufacturing giant, General Motors (GM) announced it’s pulling out of a South Africa, a move that will affect manufacturing, repairs and sales of Chevrolet, Isuzu and Opel Vehicles.

According to GM, which has headquarters in Port Elizabeth, and Eastern Cape, this is a business decision it has had to make, based on GM’s global business priorities.

“There have been significant changes to the global industry over the last few years, and our global strategy has evolved with these changes. The most significant industry change has been the emergence of mobility (autonomous/ride sharing/electrification/connectivity) as a service and as a long-term growth opportunity,” the company said.

The move comes just over a month after South Africa was downgraded to junk status by ratings agency, Standard and Poor.

The company says it aims to be out of the country by the end of this year.

GM said it firmly believes there are opportunities where it can achieve greater return on investment in specific vehicle segments and markets, such as China, where the outlook for growth is very strong.

The manufacturing and sales of Chevrolet vehicles will be phased out subject to regulatory approvals.

With regards to Opel vehicles, the brand was recently sold to the PSA group, GM will work with PSA to develop the future strategy for the brand locally. Manufacturing of Isuzu’s will continue as Isuzu will be purchasing GM’s light commercial vehicle operations in Port Elizabeth.

Isuzu will franchise a new distribution network representing the Isuzu LCV Brand – around 90 dealers.

How will consumers be affected?

GM outlined a number of important points consumers who own or plan to buy an Opel, Isuzu or Chevrolet, need to know going forward.

Firstly, existing warranties and service plans remain in place and will be honoured beyond 2017.

“On-going aftersales and parts support will continue through the existing GM dealer network to the end of 2017. From 2018, Isuzu dealers will provide aftersales and service support to Chevrolet and Opel customers until the details of our talks with PSA have been finalised,” the company.

Should you want to sell your car back to your dealer for any reason, normal business practices will be followed, whereby, the value transfer will be a negotiation between the dealer and customer.

Getting your parts for an Opel or Isuzu will also not be a hassle, as the sale of parts for all three car brands will continue locally.

Chevrolet users have been guaranteed that parts will be available for up to 10 years after production of your model has ceased.

 

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