[THE INVESTOR] GM Korea, the local unit of General Motors, on April 20 said it will continue to manufacture Chevrolet Captiva and Orlando sport utility vehicles in the country, denying all rumors.

“We haven’t discontinued the production of Chevrolet Orlando, which is manufactured at the Gunsan plant,” GM Korea said. “We are planning to continuously expand its market position based on the outstanding product value.”

The carmaker, however, admitted it has cut the production volume of Captiva SUV this year in order to reduce inventory level. “We are planning to beef up Captiva production starting May.”

Chevrolet Captiva

The statement came after local media outlets reported GM Korea will discontinue production of its unpopular models amid the automaker’s operating losses for three consecutive years.

While GM Korea released the facelifted Captiva last March, the SUV showed a disappointing performance. The Korean unit sold 2,809 units of Captiva last year, down 67 percent from the previous year.

Sales of Orlando also dropped 34.6 percent in 2016 from the previous year.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)