GM's Daewoo cars score big in overseas markets

[Ming]

GM's Daewoo cars score big in overseas markets
BY KATIE MERX
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER



You're not likely to see a Daewoo badge in the United States or in most of General Motors Corp.'s other markets anytime soon, but GM is selling more of the South Korean vehicles around the world under its other brand names -- including Saturn, Chevrolet and Buick -- and says it's making a tidy profit on the small vehicles.

GM Daewoo sold 1.5 million vehicles in 2006, up from the 1.2 million it sold a year earlier. The numbers include Korean sales of 128,332 vehicles, which rose 19.2% from a year earlier but grew largely because of demand for the complete vehicle kits it exports for assembly to plants in places such as China, Thailand, India, Colombia and Venezuela.

GM CEO Rick Wagoner says the $321-million acquisition of a majority stake of GM Daewoo is helping the company expand quickly in some of the world's fastest growing markets, including China, India and Russia.

"Our strategy is really pretty clear in these regions," Wagoner said Friday in New York in a presentation to GM's bankers. GM is looking for growth, without spending a lot, so it can make healthy profits on the small vehicles. "This is where, for us, the acquisition at GM Daewoo was really a breakthrough," Wagoner said.

Source: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a.../1002/BUSINESS

[steinravnik]

At least GM is making money somewhere.

[nascarnate326]

Originally Posted by steinravnik

At least GM is making money somewhere.

They probally have decent marketing over there.

[mbukukanyau]

soon or later they must attack Corolla

[kenman923]

I know that the chances of ever seeing Daewoo in the U.S. as an independent brand are slim to none, I would like to see some of them come to the U.S. possibly as rebadged Chevys.

[mcool]

Originally Posted by kenman923

I know that the chances of ever seeing Daewoo in the U.S. as an independent brand are slim to none, I would like to see some of them come to the U.S. possibly as rebadged Chevys.

We did see Daewoo in the US as an independent brand briefly, then they went belly up. GM needs to (and seems to outside of Korea) treat Daewoo as production capacity for small, less expensive product. GM did not acquire a majority in Daewoo to field another brand, but it's been great in circumnavigating other expensive production bases to offer the best product to help a brand such as Chevy grow elsewhere.

[nadepalma]

Originally Posted by kenman923

I know that the chances of ever seeing Daewoo in the U.S. as an independent brand are slim to none, I would like to see some of them come to the U.S. possibly as rebadged Chevys.

We have one already, the Aveo which is based on the old Kalos and the current Korean market Gentra.

I think we will see more eventually, but I also think that as some of these GMDAT products that were used for the last few years are replaced, they will be much more aligned with what GM produces in other markets. So we can expect to see the next generation C-Segment Lacetti/Nubira be based on the Delta II platform and essentially look close to what next generation Cobalt will look like: We'll essentially see a true "world-car" in different guises, sharing the same basic design and engineering, but it will be sold as a Chevy around the world but sourced from GMDAT and will equally be built in North America (either in Mexico or Lordstown) for our consumption.

Good times ahead for GM...the sooner it gets here the better...

[kenman923]

Originally Posted by mcool

We did see Daewoo in the US as an independent brand briefly, then they went belly up. GM needs to (and seems to outside of Korea) treat Daewoo as production capacity for small, less expensive product. GM did not acquire a majority in Daewoo to field another brand, but it's been great in circumnavigating other expensive production bases to offer the best product to help a brand such as Chevy grow elsewhere.

Remember that the original intent for Saturn was not Opel rebadges.

[kenman923]

Originally Posted by nadepalma

We have one already, the Aveo which is based on the old Kalos and the current Korean market Gentra.

I think we will see more eventually, but I also think that as some of these GMDAT products that were used for the last few years are replaced, they will be much more aligned with what GM produces in other markets. So we can expect to see the next generation C-Segment Lacetti/Nubira be based on the Delta II platform and essentially look close to what next generation Cobalt will look like: We'll essentially see a true "world-car" in different guises, sharing the same basic design and engineering, but it will be sold as a Chevy around the world but sourced from GMDAT and will equally be built in North America (either in Mexico or Lordstown) for our consumption.

Good times ahead for GM...the sooner it gets here the better...

I know they have the Aveo here, but it would be nice to have something like the Tosca come to these shores.

[tgagneguam]

GM CEO Rick Wagoner says the $321-million acquisition of a majority stake of GM Daewoo is helping the company expand quickly in some of the world's fastest growing markets, including China, India and Russia.

Which makes it probably one of the ten best bang-for-the-buck investments you'll find in recent memory in the auto industry. Second time around's the charm for GM-Daewoo, apparently.

[Geotpf]

Originally Posted by mbukukanyau

soon or later they must attack Corolla

The Corolla is successful because it's reliabile and gets high mileage. Until Daewoo product of similiar size beats it in bost categories, this won't happen.

[Geotpf]

Originally Posted by tgagneguam

Which makes it probably one of the ten best bang-for-the-buck investments you'll find in recent memory in the auto industry. Second time around's the charm for GM-Daewoo, apparently.

Daewoo was clearly GM's best acquistion in the last fifty years, by far. Who would have guessed?

[Geotpf]

Originally Posted by kenman923

I know that the chances of ever seeing Daewoo in the U.S. as an independent brand are slim to none, I would like to see some of them come to the U.S. possibly as rebadged Chevys.

Beyond the Aveo, and maybe minicars smaller than the Aveo, this won't happen (although they do show up as Suzukis). Simply, Chevy doesn't need two compact cars or two midsized cars, and since GM makes North American-made compacts and midsized cars, there's no need, and the UAW would have a cow if you tried.

[Ming]

Originally Posted by kenman923

I know they have the Aveo here, but it would be nice to have something like the Tosca come to these shores.

I decided I was tired of waiting for GM USA to do it, so I rewarded the company that did: Ming's New Daily Driver (It's a GM car, but...)

[geozinger]

Originally Posted by kenman923

I know they have the Aveo here, but it would be nice to have something like the Tosca come to these shores.

Isn't the Tosca the same as the Suzuki Reno?