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GM Daewoo Auto & Technology was first established as National Motor in 1937 in Bupyeong, South Korea. After changing its name to Saenara Motor in 1962, Saenara Motor was bought by Shinjin Industrial in 1965 , which changed its name to Shinjin Motor after establishing collaborations with Toyota.
After Toyota's withdrawal in 1972, Shinjin Motor started a joint venture with General Motors under the name General Motors Korea, but was renamed again in 1976 to Saehan Motor. After the Daewoo Group gained control in 1982 the name was changed to Daewoo Motors. In the early 1990s Daewoo Motors started to expand heavily throughout the world. Until 1996 all cars were based on models from General Motors. After the Asian financial crisis started in 1997, it took over the troubled Jeep specialist SsangYong in 1998, but ran into financial trouble in 1999.
In 2001 General Motors bought most of Daewoo Motors and now holds a stake of 66.7%. The deal did not include 15 plants, especially Daewoo's oldest plant in Bupyeong which now operates under the name Daewoo Inchon Motor Company as a supplier to GM-Daewoo Motors. GM Daewoo has an engineering operation, GM Daewoo Auto and Technology, which is used to develop GM's Theta and Gamma automobile platforms.
Overseas engagements
Since the 1990s, Daewoo has owned ZAZ, an automobile manufacturer based in the Ukraine.
Daewoo set up a joint venture (August 1992) and a factory in Asaka city, Andizhan province, in Uzbekistan, leveraging the presence of a large local ethnic Korean minority. It began building the Daewoo Cielo.
Daewoo invested into Poland's FSO in 1995, forming a joint venture which later produced the Matiz which became popular in the European market.
Car models
Daewoos were first sold in the United States and around the world as the Pontiac LeMans, a model based on the Opel Kadett E, though the Saehan Bird, based on the General Motors T-car platform, was exported to Malaysia as the Opel Gemini. A larger Opel Commodore-based range, called the Daewoo Prince and Royale, was also available and had commonalities with the Australian Holden Commodore. This was built until 1993.
In the 1990s, Daewoo expanded its presence under its own brand, notably in Europe, where it sold the Kadett-based Nexia (Cielo and Racer in Korea) and the Opel Ascona-based Espero.
Under the supervision of Dr Ulrich Bez, Daewoo developed its own models without GM bases. These were codenamed as the T100, J100 and V100, reflecting the code names used by General Motors, with ItalDesign working on the T100 and V100. These were exported from late 1998 to Daewoo Motor America as the sub-compact Lanos, compact Nubira ("to go everywhere/anywhere" in Korean), and the mid-size Leganza (combining the words elegante and forza, the latter meaning power in Italian). Other markets received these three cars, too. The Leganza's styling was reportedly based on a show car ItalDesign presented on Jaguar XJ12 mechanicals; the real thing was more modest, with Holden-built 2.2 L engines shipped from Melbourne to Daewoo's Korean plant.
The Rezzo minivan and Matiz (M100) were other models sold by Daewoo in various markets. The Daewoo Magnus (V200) was a development of the Leganza.
The last model year for Daewoo-badged vehicles in the US was 2002, following the bankruptcy and GM buyout of Daewoo Motor.
Badge engineering
No Daewoo-built vehicles were offered in the US for the 2003 model year. However, Daewoo exports found their way to countries such as Canada, India and the People's Republic of China. In Canada and India, the Daewoo Lacetti is sold as the Chevrolet Optra, and in China, it is the Buick Excelle (the hatchback being the Excelle HRV). In most other countries, they retained the Daewoo brand and original model names.
The 2004 Chevrolet Aveo, Suzuki Forenza, Suzuki Verona, and 2005 Suzuki Reno, all offered in the US market, are "badge engineered" Daewoos (the first three models are sold in South Korea as the Daewoo Kalos, Lacetti and Magnus, respectively). All models carry the Chevrolet badge in Canada and South Africa.
Starting in 2005, GM will brand all Daewoos as Chevrolets, except for in China (where it will be Buick), South Korea and Thailand (where Daewoo is retained), in an effort to make Chevrolet its global brand. One casualty of this is that the Nubira name (used in the UK) will disappear in favour of Lacetti. Exports to Australia will also cease once 2005 commences. A final odd consequence in Europe for 2005 is that the Chevrolet Corvette, which continues to be imported, will drop the Chevrolet name, with Corvette becoming the marque.
List of models
- Daewoo Espero
- Daewoo Evanda
- Daewoo Kalos
- Daewoo Lacetti
- Daewoo Lanos
- Daewoo Leganza
- Daewoo Matiz
- Daewoo Nexia
- Daewoo Nubira
- Daewoo Rezzo
- Daewoo Tacuma
See also
External links
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