The facility allows GM a base to expand its Chevrolet nameplate, part of its plan to expand the brand throughout much of the world.
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| "This facility will allow us to produce a new generation of cost-competitive vehicles," stated Frederick A. Henderson, GM Group Vice President and President of GM Asia Pacific. The Chevy Optra pictured, is built in the GMDAT factory in Korea. (Photo: Alexandra Straub, Canadian Auto Press) |
"We are pleased and excited about the opportunity to grow our business and presence in India," comment Frederick A. Henderson, GM Group Vice President and President of GM Asia Pacific. "This facility will allow us to produce a new generation of cost-competitive vehicles that can be marketed through our Chevrolet distribution channel."
If you've been to your Chevrolet retailer recently you may have noticed three new cars, the midsize Epica, compact Optra and subcompact Aveo (U.S. Chevy dealers only offer the Aveo). These models, that continue to be sold as Daewoo branded cars everywhere but North America, are also branded as Suzukis, and depending on market are dubbed the Verona, Forenza and Swift+ - the Forenza is not available in Canada and the Swift+ not in the U.S.
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| Although offering extremely well made interiors, the current crop of ex-Daewoo cars built in GMDAT's Korean facility have questionable overall dependability. (Photo: Alexandra Straub, Canadian Auto Press) |
The Korean made cars show a major improvement in perceived quality over traditional North American made GM cars, with extremely well made interiors featuring high-quality plastics - something the U.S. and Canadian made cars have yet to achieve. Still, Daewoo's actual dependability is subject to scrutiny having fared poorly in J. D. Powers & Associates 2003 Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS), when the cars were still sold in North America under the Daewoo nameplate. The 2004 VDS is not yet available, so the new GMDAT built cars' reliability is questionable. General Motors, for the most part, has an enviable reliability record according to J. D. Powers.