GM International - Reflecting on 2020

As 2020 winds to a close, I would like to reflect on some of the accomplishments of the General Motors International team. Despite the many challenges of 2020, we have been able to keep our customers and employees safe and we have continued to advance our vehicle portfolio across GM International.

As we worked through the devastating impacts of COVID-19, we kept a sharp focus on delivering outstanding vehicles to our customers around the world. In fact, we launched new products in every GM International market this year and we did it through creativity, agility and with intense focus on our customers.

In Q1 our teams managed to participate in some of the world’s most significant auto shows and hosted some of our most successful live reveal events ever, including: 

• Chevrolet Corvette C8 reveal at the Tokyo Auto Show 
• Chevrolet Trailblazer launch in Korea 
• Chevrolet Silverado HD launch in Israel
• Cadillac XT5 and XT6 launch in Russia

Additionally, we hosted some of the most influential automotive media from Europe, Israel and Japan at the global Corvette Stingray Ride and Drive in Las Vegas. 

As GM continues on a path to a world with Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions and Zero Congestion, the global debuts of the Cadillac LYRIQ and GMC Hummer EV were met with great excitement by media and customers around the world, reinforcing GM’s position as a technology leader.

We had great successes with a number of products leading their segments in key markets. The Trailblazer became the fastest selling new vehicle in the US and top-two in Korea, as well as receiving top safety ratings in both markets. In South America, the Chevrolet Onix is the number-one selling vehicle and the Chevrolet Tracker leads in the small SUV segment. In the Middle East, the Chevrolet Captiva made an immediate impact as our highest selling vehicle.

Throughout the pandemic, the safety of our employees, customers and their families has been our highest priority.  Our GM International team reacted quickly to keep our people safe and our plants running, as well as working closely with our partners to keep supply chains open. Safety measures at our plants included social distancing, mandatory masks, management of logistics with suppliers, staggered lunch hours and rapid testing of employees when arriving for their shift. Many of our employees have told us that they feel safer in our plants than in the community at large. 

In an effort to protect our communities, our teams have volunteered their time, donated medical supplies, donated vehicles to first aid organisations and hospitals, and donated PPE to communities around the world. To name a few, our employees in South America volunteered their vacation time to repair respirators for local hospitals, and donated over 5 million masks, which were produced at our converted GM facilities. In Egypt, a team of our GM engineers won a national award for ventilator design.

In all of our international markets, we took extraordinary measures to protect our customers. We maintained service part supplies and provided guidelines on vehicle maintenance and sterilization. We supported contactless delivery through the roll-out of “Shop. Click. Drive.” in Russia and the Middle East, and introduced virtual “COVID-safe” showroom options, which were successful in our major markets.

Throughout the second half of the year, we continued to expand our product portfolio by launching several vehicles using virtual tools with increased social media presence. Some of the exciting vehicles that have been recently launched, include:

• Cadillac XT6 and Chevrolet Colorado in Korea  
• Chevrolet Tracker in South America
• Cadillac CT4 and CT5 in the Middle East 
• Chevrolet Captiva in Egypt
• Cadillac XT4 in Europe and Russia
• Chevrolet Trailblazer in Israel
• Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade in the Middle East
• Corvette in Europe.

I am proud of the accomplishments of the GM International team, and more optimistic than ever as we look forward to 2021. In closing, I would like to wish our customers, our employees and our partners and all of your families a happy, healthy and safe holiday season.

Please stay safe,

Steve Kiefer.