This photo offered by GM Korea shows the GMC Sierra model launched in South Korea on Feb. 7, 2023.
SEOUL, Feb. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., on Tuesday launched the GMC brand’s flagship pickup Sierra to strengthen its lineup and boost sales.
The Sierra Denali is the GMC brand’s launch model in the Korean market and the full-size pickup is the only GMC Sierra model available here, the company said in a statement.
“From Chevrolet to Cadillac, and now to GMC — products from each brand will cover a large bandwidth of customers who want to go beyond the current limited market choices,” GM Korea President Roberto Rempel said in a press conference.
Korea is “a strategically important market” for GM, and the company is targeting to become the truck and SUV leader through the introduction of the GMC brand here, Molly Peck, chief marketing officer of the GMC and Buick brands, said in the launching event held in Seoul.
As far as expanding, she said, “We definitely see a very bright future for the GMC brand here in Korea and we are looking at the opportunities to expand the GMC brand in the near future.”
GMC, GM’s division for trucks and utility vehicles, manufactures SUVs, pickup trucks, vans and light-duty trucks.
The Sierra Denali is equipped with a 6.2-liter V8 direct injection gasoline engine that generates 426 horsepower, a 10-speed automatic transmission, six air bags, 22-inch tires and various safety features, such as forward collision warning, and rear cross-traffic warning and braking, the statement said.
The pickup boasts an overwhelming scale, measuring 5,890 millimeters in length, 2,065 mm in width and 1,950 mm in height. It shares the platform with the Chevrolet Tahoe and the Cadillac Escalade SUVs.
The premium pickup is priced at 93 million won (US$74,000), and the Denali-X special edition, which is prepared to commemorate the first sale of the GMC Sierra in Korea, is available for 95 million won.
This photo taken on Feb. 7, 2023, and provided by GM Korea shows the GMC Sierra Denali pickup displayed during its launching event held near the floating island of the Han River called “Sebitseom” in southern Seoul.
In a two-track strategy, GM Korea has sold domestically produced and imported vehicles in Asia’s fourth-biggest economy.
Its lineup is now composed of one locally assembled model, the Trailblazer SUV, and six imported ones — the Colorado pickup, the Bolt all-electric car, the Equinox, Traverse and Tahoe SUVs, and the GMC Sierra Denali pickup.
The Spark mini car, Trax compact SUV and the Malibu midsize sedan were part of the lineup, but the company stopped their production last year.
Most of the models sold in South Korea are from the Chevrolet brand. The Cadillac brand models are available here as well.
For all of 2022, GM Korea’s vehicle sales rose 12 percent to 264,875 units from 237,044 a year earlier amid the extended COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2023, GM plans to introduce six new and upgraded models, including the Trax Crossover, the Cadillac LYRIQ EV and the GMC Sierra Denali, to turn around its Korean operations.
GM Korea reported net losses for eight consecutive years through 2021 due to a lack of new models and weak demand for its models.
(Yonhap)
