General Motors Co. named Kaher Kazem, chief executive of General Motors India who successfully led the restructuring of the U.S. carmaker’s Indian operations, as the new head of General Motors Korea, raising both hopes and concerns for workers of former Daewoo Motor amid rumors about the U.S. carmaker pulling out of Korea.

According to GM Korea on Thursday, Kazem’s appointment is effective September 1, replacing his predecessor James Kim who resigned in July before the end of his term in March next year.

Unlike Kim who has had no experience in the auto industry before taking the helm at GM Korea, Kazem has served in the car industry for more than two decades, raising hopes that he would help resuscitate the sluggish Korean unit’s operation.

At the same time, the new appointment immediately spurred worries over a possible restructuring of GM’s Korean unit as it comes after Kazem’s shutdown of GM India in May, ending the sale of GM cars in the country. The pullout was decided after lackluster car sales in India, with GM vehicles claiming less than 1 percent of market share in the country last year. GM will still keep the Indian plants open to manufacture cars for export to Mexico and Latin America.

GM’s withdrawal from Australia and Russia has also stoked speculations that Korea may be next. The US carmaker designated the three countries as high-cost operations and made clear its intention to reduce or abandon the Korean market if labor and management relations don’t improve. GM Korea’s union and management are clashing over wages despite 2 trillion won ($1.75 billion) in losses incurred in the Korean unit over the past three years.

“GM Korea’s latest leadership change seems to be the company`s warning to the labor union for a possible withdrawal from the Korean market,” said Lee Ho-geun, a professor of automotive engineering at Daeduk University in Korea. “A restructuring is expected to be the next step that the company would take.”

GM Korea, however, has denied the pullout rumors.

Kazem began his career at GM in 1995 as a senior engineer and held several key positions in GM Holden Manufacturing Operations. In 2009, he was appointed vice president of regional production and quality in GM Thailand and ASEAN and in 2012 was named head of GM Uzbekistan. In 2015, he joined GM India as chief operating officer and was promoted to CEO in 2016.

“I’m looking forward to leading GM Korea,” Kazem said in a statement. “Chevrolet is a strong brand in Korea and I plan to continue building on its success.”

By Lee Seung-hoon and Woo Je-yoon

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