Economy14/01/2008GM Daewoo Aims To Sell 140,000 Vehicles In S Korea In ’08
A company spokesman said GM Daewoo Chief Executive Michael A. Grimaldi told reporters at the Detroit Auto Show that the automaker is aiming also to export 1.86 million units - including complete knockdown units.
This makes the year’s total sales target 2 million units.
In 2007, the company sold 130,542 units at home and exported 1.76 million units, which included 926,446 CKDs.
GM’s South Korean unit will introduce an upgraded version of the mid-size Tosca sedan this month and resume sales of the 0.8-liter Damas and Labo mini cars in April after satisfying South Korea’s new strict emission standards.
It has continued to produce LPG models of Damas and Labo for export.
Also, the company will launch the 3.6-liter premium Statesman sedan in the third quarter and a new sub-midsize sedan in the fourth.
In a move to expand overseas sales, GM Daewoo will set up joint ventures in Poland and Uzbekistan in the second quarter to produce small cars and mini cars based on its CKDs.
In September last year, the company had said it would buy a 40% stake in Poland’s state-owned automaker FSO for KRW238.7 billion ($255 million) to set up a joint venture.
GM Daewoo is also seeking a joint venture with a car manufacturing facility in Uzbekistan.
The plants in Poland and Uzbekistan were once owned by the now-defunct Daewoo Motor.
General Motors and its partners took a controlling stake in some of Daewoo Motor’s assets in 2002 to create GM Daewoo. But other Daewoo plants in East Europe and FSO were excluded from the deal.