Daewoo Leaves Foreign Plants Adrift

Mr. [Kim Woo Choong] became a hero to tens of thousands of workers in the failing factories acquired by Daewoo. But the buying spree helped push the Daewoo Group into bankruptcy. And with the recent deal under which General Motors will acquire Daewoo's choicest auto-making morsels -- two plants...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe New York times
Main Author PETER S. GREEN with DON KIRK
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, N.Y New York Times Company 15.05.2002
EditionLate Edition (East Coast)
Subjects
Acquisitions & mergers
Automobile industry
Bankruptcy
Factories
Foreign investment
Warsaw
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Summary:Mr. [Kim Woo Choong] became a hero to tens of thousands of workers in the failing factories acquired by Daewoo. But the buying spree helped push the Daewoo Group into bankruptcy. And with the recent deal under which General Motors will acquire Daewoo's choicest auto-making morsels -- two plants in South Korea and one in Vietnam -- the FSO factory and about a dozen other Daewoo plants have been left out in the cold. In the neighboring Czech Republic, at Daewoo Avia in Prague, things are a bit better, said the plant's export director, Inn-Sang Cho. It has been turning out a new truck -- the D-Line, a $110 million project developed by Daewoo engineers in Prague and Korea and at the Daewoo development center in Britain (sold last year) -- and that seems to be helping it claw back Western European markets. Mr. Cho said he expected to sell 1,800 trucks this year and to turn an operating profit next year. While a few Daewoo plants may survive in other hands, there appears to be no hope that Daewoo will remain a player in Eastern Europe, without even a brand name to call its own. But even if they go out of production in Poland, Daewoo cars, like the Lanos subcompact, will continue to be a favorite at used car lots.
ISSN:0362-4331