Newly-appointed GM Korea chief confronted with various company issues after taking over

GM Korea appointed a new chief executive officer last month, and now he is facing various problems within the company, such as declining sales and labor disputes. The Korean unit of the Detroit, Michigan-headquartered automaker announced that Roberto Rempel will now lead the team, taking over the role from Kaher Kazem.

"In addition to having extensive engineering background in global product group, Roberto has demonstrated remarkable leadership in GMTCK. We are fortunate to have someone of his caliber leading the team in Korea, one of GMI's core markets," GM International president and GM senior vice president, Shilpan Amin, said in a press release at that time.

He added, "Roberto comes to the role with clear objectives to win more customers in domestic and export markets, deliver a flawless launch of our new global crossover, grow our brands in Korea and continue to improve the competitiveness of our operations in Korea."

In any case, Rempel inspected GM Korea's No. 1 Bupyeong plant last week as he started his work as the new CEO. The Korea Herald reported that it became clear to the chief that he is facing a series of challenges ahead. He has taken over at a time when the company is making a big effort to revive its market share, and he has to continue trying, or General Motors might end up leaving the country.

Another urgent task that Rempel must address is resolving GM Korea's disputes with a labor union which has been going on for some time now. The conflicts have been complicating the company's efforts to rebuild its market reputation and improve its customer base.

GM Korea has been planning to close down its No. 2 Bupyeong factory, and the labor union expressed strong opposition to this decision. They have also raised concerns over the automaker's move of reshuffling its employees. The labor union claims that these have been decided one-sidedly, and GM Korea has yet to resolve these issues.

Then again, the company already promised to relocate 1,200 workers that will be displaced once GM Korea's No. 2 Bupyeong plant closes. They will be brought to the No.1 Bupyeong and Changwon production facilities by the end of this year.