GM Korea Co., the local unit of U.S. automaker General Motors Co., said Monday that it aims to secure a double digit market share in South Korea this year.

The company sold a total of 151,040 vehicles in 2013, including imported vehicles, for a market share of 9.8 percent. This represents a 0.3 percentage point gain from the year before and the best figures by the company so far.

To reach the new target, the carmaker outlined five major goals, which include improving profitability, greater success in the tough domestic market, best ratings in quality and customer satisfaction, building up the potential of individual employees and greater corporate responsibility.

GM Korea CEO Sergio Rocha said the company was able to achieve record high sales last year after it outlined the long-term GMK 20XX plan. The GMK 20XX plan is a blueprint on how the company will grow in South Korea up until 2099. 

Sources inside the carmaker, meanwhile, said that management is in the process of trying to handle the decision by top GM executives not to export cars made in South Korea to Europe from 2016 onwards.

Cars produced in South Korea are sold under the Chevrolet badge in Europe, but they have not been well received in the market. Cars sent to Europe account for a fifth of all cars sold by GM Korea on an annual basis.

To deal with the expected loss in production and sales, the company announced late last year that it will accept voluntary early retirement from office staff early this year, although making clear that cutbacks will not affect people on the car assembly line. (Yonhap News)