Current Financial Difficulties at General Motors not to Affect Korean GMDAT Division

Overblown? The concern, of course, is warranted, being that independent rating agency Moody's Investors Service recently reduced

GM Canada offers the midsize Epica, a model not available in the U.S. (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press)

GM's debt rating to "junk" status, citing that its continual slide in market share plus concerns about whether or not GM will be able to overcome legacy health care costs, the high cost of servicing its pension plan, plus competition from its Asian rivals, Toyota, Honda and Hyundai, especially, will make a turnaround extremely difficult.

In case you're not aware, the Chevrolet Aveo, Aveo5, Optra, Optra5 and Epica are Korean-made despite being sold under

Chevrolet has expanded into Europe, thanks to its Korean GMDAT division, and is already showing prototypes of next-gen vehicles at European auto shows. (General Motors of Canada)

the all-American bowtie brand, while Suzuki sells the Sprint+ and Verona here in Canada, and Forenza and Reno in the U.S. Elsewhere in the world, the Matiz, Kalos and Lacetti models were sold under the Daewoo badge until recently, when GM decided to rebrand them as Chevys and expand that division's global sales.

Altogether, strong exports pushed GMDAT's monthly sales to a new record of 112,631 units in October, up 41 percent compared to October 2004. GM is no doubt best to leave this division as independent as possible.