GM mulls moving Opel Mokka from Korea to Spain

 

General Motors is considering moving a large share of the production of the Mokka model for its European arm Opel from South Korea to Spain, German paper Handelsblatt reported, citing sources within the U.S. car maker.

More than 100,000 Mokkas have been ordered since the market launch a half year ago and demand has been much better than expected, leading to production bottlenecks and long waiting lists for the subcompact SUV.

Producing the Mokka in the factory of General Motors' Opel unit in Zaragoza would help to fill up that plant's spare capacity and could lower losses of the division.

A spokesman for Opel said on Monday that GM was looking for additional capacity to produce subcompact SUVs but declined to comment specifically on any plans to move production of the Mokka to the factory in Zaragossa.

A spokesman for GM sister brand Chevrolet added that there were no plans currently to move production of the Trax, a sister of the Mokka, from Korea.

Opel has already said it is looking at moving production of the next generation of the Mokka to Europe.