BOGOTA (Reuters) -U.S. car maker General Motors will close its manufacturing operations in Colombia and Ecuador, the company said in a statement on Friday, as part of its shift towards producing next-generation vehicles.

Manufacturing will cease at company’s Colmotores plant in Colombia from Friday, it said, while operations will halt at its factory in Ecuador at the end of August.

In Colombia, the company is seeking permission from the labor ministry to lay off 850 workers, a spokesperson said.

Its Colombia manufacturing plant was operating at 9% capacity, General Motors said, while its Ecuadorean operation was at 13% capacity.

Colombia’s labor ministry will inspect the manufacturing plant in a series of visits, it said in a statement, as part of its role in protecting workers’ rights.

The plant’s closure comes amid a 14-year low of sales of new vehicles in 2023 versus 2022 in Colombia, according to a report released by two industry groups in January.

Despite closing its manufacturing operations, General Motors will not exit either country, the company said, but will maintain dealerships in both Colombia and Ecuador.

(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra and Luis Jaime AcostaWriting by Oliver Griffin and Julia Symmes CobbEditing by Sandra Maler)