Daewoo Motors received its name in 1982 when South Korean manufacturer Saehan Motors was bought by the Daewoo Group. Previously the company had been owned by General Motors, under the guise of General Motors Korea. Before that Toyota had control, though the company had originally been established in 1937.
At the time of the acquisition the Daewoo Group was an international corporation operating in many different industries. This helped Daewoo Motors to become established globally, arriving in the United Kingdom in 1995. The company ran its own retail network rather than relying on dealerships – becoming the only manufacturer of the time to do so.
Despite facing difficulties caused by the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 the Daewoo brand acquired Jeep maker SsangYong, though this asset would have to be sold in 2000. The following year General Motors returned to an interest in the brand, purchasing a majority of shares along with Suzuki and the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation.
Since then the company has been known as GM Daewoo, though the deal has been complicated by the fact that General Motors did not acquire all the plants associated with the Daewoo brand. General Motors has, however, rebadged many Daewoo models under the names of its other brands – most notably Chevrolet.
Along with manufacturing Daewoo is also heavily concerned with the development of its cars, with an engineering department that has influenced the design of many recent General Motors models.
EuroNCAP Safety Ratings for Daewoo cars
The European New Car Assessment Programme produces reports on the safety of vehicles based on the results of several crash tests. As well as measuring how the car will hold up in a crash the risk to a pedestrian struck by the car is assessed. The star ratings (maximum 5) of key Daewoo models are shown below.
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