General Motors is continuing a years-long global restructuring to concentrate on high-profit markets such as North America and China. The Detroit automaker said Sunday that it will “wind down” its sales, design and engineering operations in Australia and New Zealand and discontinue its Holden brand in the region by 2021.
The Detroit automaker said Sunday that it will “wind down” its sales, design and engineering operations in Australia and New Zealand and discontinue its Holden brand in the region by 2021.
GM said it expects to take $1.1 billion in charges mostly in the first quarter as a result of the actions, including $300 million in cash.
The announcement comes more than two years after GM ended vehicle manufacturing in Australia, a place the automaker used as a proving ground for up-and-coming executives, including GM President Mark Reuss.
The market exits add to unprecedented actions by GM to retreat from underperforming markets in recent years, most notably selling its European operations to French automaker PSA Group in 2017. It also restructured its operations in South Korea and ended or limited operations in Russia, Australia, India and Thailand.
