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Post by HondaTech on Jun 27, 2004 12:25:29 GMT -5
![]() www.thecarconnection.com/images/gallery/7708_image.jpg[/img] GM Says S.Korea Could Be Asian Hub June 25, 2004 04:42:00 AM ET SEOUL (Reuters) - The chairman of General Motors Corp. predicted a swift return to growth for South Korea's depressed car market and said the country could emerge as the hub for GM's Asia-Pacific operations. Rick Wagoner, chairman and chief executive of GM, also told reporters the world's top car maker was committed to bolstering its facilities and product line-up in South Korea. ``We regard Korea as an important market for General Motors,'' said Wagoner at a press conference. ``GM Daewoo (Automotive & Technology) is a valuable source of research and development, engineering, design, manufacturing, and quality expertise.'' ``These functions show Korea is growing as a hub of Asia-Pacific operations,'' Wagoner said. ``Despite current sluggish economic conditions, we do expect Korea will reassume rapid growth shortly.'' Wagoner's remarks came after he said on Wednesday GM planned to move its Asia-Pacific headquarters from Singapore to Shanghai by January 2005 and spend $250 million with a local partner to expand a design center in China. GM, a distant second to Volkswagen AG in China's car market, said the spending was part of a planned $3 billion investment over the next three years in the world's fastest-growing major car market.
In South Korea, GM Daewoo has pledged to invest $1.5 billion in the next few years to produce new models and diesel engines.
The investment, scaled up from an initial $1 billion, was seen by analysts as a bid to raise the competition against top local auto maker Hyundai Motor Co and its affiliate, Kia Motors Corp
Nick Reilly, GM Daewoo's CEO who also took part in the press conference, said: ``Through our investment in GM Daewoo and the growth of our important business, we are making an important statement of our long-term commitment to Korea.'' NO SSANGYONG BID Wagoner said GM had no plan to bid directly for Ssangyong Motor Co at this time after it failed to be picked as a preferred bidder for the sport utility vehicle last year. An initial deal to sell Ssangyong to Chinese chemicals group Blue Star fell apart in March because of pricing differences and creditors have resumed sale talks with foreign investors, including Blue Star and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC). ``I'm sure that if SAIC is successful in this acquisition, then we would be very interested in the plant,'' Wagoner said. SAIC is GM's main joint venture partner in China. Meanwhile, Wagoner said he could not pin down an exact date for the acquisition of a plant in Pupyung, southwest of Seoul. The plant is the former Daewoo Motor's oldest and biggest but was left out of the deal when GM bought the bankrupt Korean car maker in 2002. Wagnor said there had been significant improvements at the Pupyong plant in areas that GM had wanted to see progress before purchasing the plant, including labor stability and productivity. ``We're very pleased with the progress and hope that we could continue that and then extend relations going forward,'' he said, adding, however, that now was not the time to make a final decision. © 2004 Reuters |
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Post by Brian Gluckman on Jun 27, 2004 14:27:04 GMT -5
Shall we look at it this way:
American cars are behind Asian cars as a whole.
Therefore, although GM/Daewoo is investing in new models and diesels, Hyundai is Asian and will be ahead of them. Daewoo will get made more and more American. (that is why they are developing diesel engines... when it comes time for new gasoline engine ranges, they will just give them GM engines). Therefore, Hyundai who is Asian, will be ahead.
Does anyone get my drift? Either way, I am not worried at all for Hyundai. They will be better for a very long time, if not 4ever.
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Post by hjr on Jun 27, 2004 19:27:26 GMT -5
OK, first, it Seems Suzuki is making sales gains using the 2 Daewoo cars here in USA. If their sales keep going, they could sell between 90-100,000 units(first time ever) in USA this year.
I got this info from monthly sales from wardsauto.com, early june, when sales figures came out.
Chevy seems to have sold some AVEO's ,also, but I have only seen one on the road in my area.
I do not think GM will overtake HyundaiKia.
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Post by megadethmartyrdethmartyr on Jul 20, 2004 14:36:18 GMT -5
I don't think Hyundai is too overly concerned with GM/Daewoo for the exact same reasons that have been mentioned. Domestic companies have a way off taking over foreign makes and running them into the ground (Mitsu, Isuzu, etc.) Their technology is generally fairly far behind as well as their future planning.
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thejoyof6
Senior Member
Spending countless hours on forums
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Post by thejoyof6 on Jul 22, 2004 10:48:30 GMT -5
Rumors are suggesting that GM is going to do away with the daewoo name all together and rename the company Chevrolet. Good ole GM is going to kill yet another brand!  RIP Daewoo, Saab, Saturn, Olds. |
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Post by hjr on Jul 22, 2004 20:24:15 GMT -5
i forgot if i read it on detnews.com/autoinsiders or detnews.com/daily news a day ro two ago, but, Daewoo badge will remain on all cars in Asian markets, but disappear in European markets, among others.
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Post by bgluckman on Jul 22, 2004 23:27:24 GMT -5
Actually, 4Car reported the other day that the Daewoo nameplate will remain in Western Europe.
It seems reports change depending on the day, and who at GM you ask.
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Post by eCkS on Jul 23, 2004 1:09:47 GMT -5
Rumors are suggesting that GM is going to do away with the daewoo name all together and rename the company Chevrolet. Good ole GM is going to kill yet another brand! RIP Daewoo, Saab, Saturn, Olds. don;t forget Isuzu... |
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thejoyof6
Senior Member
Spending countless hours on forums
Posts: 161
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Post by thejoyof6 on Jul 23, 2004 1:21:41 GMT -5
I was thinking about isuzu but they have been dead since....well since they debuted!  but if i had to choose the ascender or the trailblazer i would take the ascender just for the warranty. |
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Post by eCkS on Aug 22, 2004 21:56:47 GMT -5
well i don't know about that... in my eyes Isuzu was the one company to start up the SUV craze here SoCal... i guess too much of a good thing can actually be bad.. in this case Isuzu.... and yes the Ascender does look pretty cool... i really liked the VehiCross... i thought that was hot...
that couldn't have been said better... that's exactly whats going to happen to Daewoo...
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Post by bgluckman on Aug 22, 2004 23:30:00 GMT -5
For the record, GM no longer controls Isuzu, and hasn't since early 2003, when GM's share in the company dropped from 49% to 7% due to a market recapitalization.
As for GM Daewoo, I think Hyundai (and everyone else, for that matter) should be far more worried about Greely and Shanghai Automotive in China than GM-DAT.
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Post by megadethmartyrdethmartyr on Aug 23, 2004 9:39:04 GMT -5
And no one is worried about anything in China. Not because they are a bad car or anything ( they aren't great), but because they don't have the means up putting up a decent dealer network in the states or europe. Greely is a Toyota rip-off to make things worse. Those two should be fine in their domestic markets but more than likely fall like Daewoo did if they come to the states.
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Post by bgluckman on Aug 23, 2004 14:36:58 GMT -5
You're wrong. Geely, who uses Diahatsu's under license, is very close to releasing more cars of its own design--the cuddly Beauty Leopard was just its first. Across town, Hafei is in the process of setting up a European dealer network to sell its Pininfarina-styled Saibao in 2006.  And Shanghai Automotive? They just purchased Ssangyong, and struck a co-development deal with Rover Motors to create a new European-focused minivan. You sound a lot like the people who said the same things about Hyundai fifteen years ago: very foolish. |
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Post by hjr on Aug 23, 2004 15:05:48 GMT -5
hey, bgluckman, is that a photoshopped Hyundai that you have there? If not, what is it?
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Post by bgluckman on Aug 23, 2004 19:01:29 GMT -5
Nope...that's the production version of the Hafei Saibao. If you look carefully, you'll actually see it looks a lot like the last-generation Honda Civic sedan. Still, the Chinese are coming up fast. There's a rumor in today's AutoNews that Shanghai Automotive is in talks to buy all or part of MG Rover--which would give them a distribution network both in Europe and North America (MG sells in Mexico) to distribute cars under, not to mention a respected nameplate.
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RIP Daewoo, Saab, Saturn, Olds.