GM’s plant in South Korea to boost capacity to 500,000 vehicles a year

General Motors‘ Changwon plant in South Korea, south of the capital Seoul, will increase the U.S. automaker’s capacity in the nation to half a million cars a year once an upgrade is complete, executives said Wednesday.

The Changwon facility, which will build GM’s so-called next-generation vehicles including an all-new Chevrolet crossover, is currently being remodeled and expanded as part of a plan that kicked off last year. GM has invested around 900 billion won ($632 million) in the upgrade to date, including construction of new press and paint shops, GM Korea CEO Roberto Rempel said at an event to mark the plant’s 20th anniversary.

The next-generation global vehicles that will be made at Changwon are expected “to follow the Chevrolet Trailblazer in enjoying great success,” Rempel said. That model is currently produced at GM’s older plant in Bupyeong. “We will also be supporting Korea to accelerate its transition to electric vehicles by introducing 10 EVs by 2025.”

Once the upgrade is finished, Changwon will be able to make up to 60 cars an hour. Mass production is expected to start in the first quarter of 2023. GM exports many of its hot-selling Korean-made Trailblazers to the U.S. Rempel said GM has no plans to manufacture electric cars in Korea.

GM Korea’s CFO  Amy Martin said the automaker’s South Korea operations should be profitable next year. GM Korea has made a loss every year since 2014, company filings show.