"We focus on providing customers with the confidence that they can visit a service center at any time while owning their vehicle to resolve issues and trust our maintenance technology."
Noh Jung-hwa, executive vice president in charge of field force at the After-Sales Service Division of GM Korea Business Site (hereinafter Korean GM), said this during a media tour held on the 14th at the Service Training Center at the Bupyeong headquarters in Incheon. The company explained that it will apply this same service system to new Buick vehicles imported from China. Korean GM opened its Service Training Center to reporters for the first time on that day.
Korean GM will support the Buick Electra E7, which begins sales next month, through the existing Chevrolet service network and parts supply chain. The aim is to ensure customers do not experience inconvenience during repairs and to reduce cost burdens. The E7 is a mid-size SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle) PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) produced in China by SAIC-GM, a joint venture between GM and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation.
The standard Korean GM uses to measure service quality is whether customers who purchased the vehicle return to an official service center. It uses the service center revisit rate (retention) over approximately seven years after purchase as a key metric, separately managing whether repairs were completed within one day and whether they were fixed correctly on the first attempt. Choi Eun-young, senior vice president of the After-Sales Service Division, stated, "The Korea business site shows high retention compared to GM globally." The service network consists of 381 service centers and 201 parts sales dealerships nationwide, with 115 of these service centers handling Buick maintenance.
To prevent repair delays due to missing parts, domestic inventory and logistics networks have also been established. The Sejong parts logistics hub ships ordered parts from the warehouse the next day for delivery nationwide. The goal is to maintain over 95% of necessary parts in stock. After noting that "there is a difference in parts procurement time between cases where parts warehouses and inventory are secured domestically and cases where individual service centers order from vendors," Choi emphasized, "If repairs are delayed, the period of using rental cars may also be extended," adding, "We are pursuing competitive parts prices and swift repairs together."
Concerns that labor costs would be high for a premium brand were also alleviated. The standard hourly labor rate is the same as Chevrolet's. Warranty repair labor rates apply the same fee to all service centers. The headquarters also provides guidelines for general paid repair labor costs. AC Delco is an aftermarket parts brand developed and sold by GM, meeting GM quality standards while reducing price burdens. Buick is also developing AC Delco parts centered on light maintenance consumables and plans to secure domestic alternatives for high-frequency consumables.
The training facility displays an E7 finished vehicle and a disassembled vehicle with the engine, drive unit, and high-voltage battery removed. Park Jeong-su, executive vice president in charge of maintenance technology and customer support, stated, "We have extensive experience maintaining electrified vehicles from the Alpheon eAssist to the Bolt EV (Electric Vehicle), Cadillac Lyriq, and GMC Hummer EV," expressing confidence by saying, "We judge that there are no issues at all with PHEV service." Kim Yun-yong, instructor at the Service Training Center, added, "We have experience maintaining existing electrified vehicles and are fully prepared for practical training."
The Service Training Center, which opened in 1996, was relocated to the Bupyeong headquarters in 2023 and renovated. GM operates new vehicle education, Bronze, Silver, and Gold tiered programs, and new maintenance technician training at this center, and conducts free on-site education visits to regional service centers. The number of electrified vehicle maintenance personnel trained since 2012 has reached 1,409.
Customer service is separately trained according to GM's service standard, the "GM Difference." Chevrolet focuses on rapid on-site response, Buick on comfortable and meticulous service, and Cadillac and GMC on high-level service and technical support. Tiered education tailored to proficiency levels is provided by job role, such as maintenance technicians and reception staff, and service levels are checked annually through mystery shopping and customer experience competitions.
Korean GM is strengthening on-site management centered on partner service centers. Regional managers visit service centers to check whether the content of training received is being applied in the field. Since the current number of service centers is sufficient, the plan is to focus on improving the service quality of the existing network rather than increasing the number of locations. A notable feature is that approximately 70% of service center representatives are former GM employees, giving them a deep understanding and bond with the brand.
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