GM’s troubles are hitting home. ALL its homes. Reuters reports that GM’s Korean division Daewoo—provider of the execrable vehicle known in the US as the Chevrolet Aveo—is getting the snot kicked out of it in its home market. “GM Daewoo is struggling. It is asking for additional loans from banks, including state-run Korea Development Bank, after using up $2 billion in credit lines.” Oops. Hey, did you know that Daewoo now accounts for a quarter of ALL of GM’s [soon to be formerly] worldwide automotive production? That’s a salient fact because we now learn that the Aveo’s replacement, codenamed T300 and scheduled for April 2010, has been back burnered. To January 2011. In theory. In practice, any such delay is most definitely not a good thing, as its fellow Korean, Hyundai, is planning to cap Daewoo’s ass [paraphrasing]. And anyone else at the bottom of the ladder, anywhere in the world, including China and the US. So can the Chevy Cruze fill The General’s small car gap? Place your bets here. Oh wait, you already have [via Uncle Sam].
What is the correct prononciation for “Aveo”? Is it “Oy vey”?
Good grief. The Daewoo Kalos, a.k.a. here as the Aveo and Ponitiac G3 doesn’t sell very well in its home market. Does anyone wonder why they’re not moving many of these here?
In South Africa, General Motors are asking a really pertinent question:
Where will Chevrolet take you?
The site only contains a Flash Movie (that I do not have the patience to watch) and a page inviting you to leave your contact details. A dealer will then contact you to arrange a test drive of one of the following masterpieces of automotive engineering:
Chevrolet Spark
Chevrolet Aveo
Chevrolet Captiva
Chevrolet Lumina
The last one is also known as the Holden Commodore or (I believe) the Potiac G8. The others are rebadged Daewoos. But wait, there’s more!
Book to test drive any Chevrolet right here online, and you reserve a briefcase. This briefcase could contain a cash prize of up to R10,000.
That is slightly more than $1000. Wow!
You can almost taste the desperation.
I would think they have their hands full supplying the free world with Cruzes? no?
The empire is crumbling. How is GM going to make cars for the NA market if they lose all the design, engineering and importing from the foreign owned GM bits. They are about to lose control of Opel(meaning they don’t call the shots) where will the Malibu platforms come from then. If GM Daewoo goes down, who will make their Aveo’s and Cruze’s. Holden doesn’t really matter because GM has shown they can’t sell anythign from down under at anything called a profit. That just leaves stuff from China and maybe Brazil but most of those are Opels.
I guess they could keep pumping out trucks and SUV’s if Obama will let them.
“I guess they could keep pumping out trucks and SUV’s if Obama will let them.”
Isn’t this what the new CAFE rules are encouraging?
If only they had delayed the Aveo to the U.S. market indefinitely! I find it incredibly ridiculous that through the years of partial ownership of Fiat, Subaru, Isuzu, and Suzuki that the only thing worthwhile that they still have to show for it is the Duramax diesel. The fact that they couldn’t figure out how to build a decent small car from any of those influences proves that GM’s failure is way deep. GM is totally fucked, and I’m starting to wonder if they’re going to come out of this whole thing any better off than Chrysler. At least Chrysler will have some interesting Euro rides to work with. GM’s going to have a bunch of their same old shit and a handful of Daewoos. The flames from the pile of money burning in Detroit are visible from anywhere in the country and the fire is still growing.
The flames from the pile of money burning in Detroit are visible from anywhere in the country and the fire is still growing.
That should be the quote of the day.
The news coming out of detroit each day is more rediculous than the day before.
Just GIVE Chrysler to Fiat and give GM to Tata.
Wipe their hands clean, turn around, walk away, never look back.
Superbadd75: And NUMMI and Saturn and Opel and Saab showed them nothing as well.
Which probably means:Postponed Aveo [which was to be built in Mexico],Cobalt will remain in production [as originally planned, but for a longer time ] and be the “value leader” while the Cruze [to be built in Lordstown,along with the Cobalt, much like they did Cavalier/Cobalt] will be Chevrolet’s “premium” small car offering.For which they won’t need to offer incentives.
Besides : with a how many multi-hundred day supply of Aveos already available they won’t need the “new” Aveo until, oh, 2016 or so. Maybe by then it will be what replaces the Cruze as GM’s next premium small car.
See? I figured out GM’s plan. And you all thought GM would never be able to pay back those loans !
So the Korean plan is to CH 11 Daewoo and steal it back from GM?
Interesting plan.
“I guess they could keep pumping out trucks and SUV’s if Obama will let them.”
Isn’t this what the new CAFE rules are encouraging?
Yeah, pretty much. Basically, the only ‘merican vehicle really screwed by the “footprint” system is the swb Wrangler, since it’s as inefficient as vehicles twice it’s size, yet relatively compact. That’ll teach Chryslerberus to stop selling it with a four-cylinder.
Other than that, however, bigger vehicles don’t have to come anywhere near the fuel consumption targets that are in the news. Plus, making better air conditioning systems also counts towards GHG-reduction, in lieu of actually reducing fuel consumption.
In short, business as usual. This is why the automakers agreed to it: they only have to make marginal changes to meet the new CAFE requirements, which is really stupid.
Frankly, I want $5 gas and teeny diesel cars. That would be pretty awesome, actually.
You can thank our Eco-Nazi overlords when those types of vehicles become the norm. I’m just relieved that we didn’t have to vote on the matter and our elite, all knowing masters made this decision for us.(Don’t bother arguing that we voted these people in office, because if they had said outright they’d be forcing us into underpowered deathtraps and used our tax money to make them they’d be laughed/booed/lynched right off the stage.) I just hope they’ll let me keep the old photo on my license when it’s converted to the new Citizen of the World ID.
Speaking of which, now that we’re giving up our standard of living to be more “equal” (some will be more “equal” than others…) with the rest of the world does that mean we’ll no longer be ridiculed by Europeans? It just makes me feel so ashamed when countries with failed economic models make fun of my country’s consumption because we had the audacity to embrace a more successful capitalist economy. When will we ever learn?!
Tough times for GM. So, even the “crappy but cheap” business model does not work.
But even if I would be up for cheap and crappy, why should I select Daewoo? Who does, anyway?
Moskvitch, Far East (s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moskvitch)
Yes, reclusive in nature, why is it the Europeans aren’t rushing to adopt your more successful version of capitalism? Is it GM? Bernie Madoff?
Expect more ridicule.
GM cars were selling reasonably well when they were engineered in the States. It is the rebadged Opels that are not selling. Even the Malibu can’t outsell the aging Impala in retail sales.
If GM cannot engineer and design cars in the US let them go under.
Don’t outsource US engineering and than give us excrement like the Aveo. It is just insulting.
GM could barely hold it together before the poo hit the air circulator.
At this point they have been distracted for 8 months trying to survive each day. Now you will see things that are planned 6-8 months in advance stop happening.
Things that just happened on autopilot will slowly stop for lack of someone doing the routine care and feeding.
I liken it to the slow decline of a person with Alzheimers.
Very sad…
I’m interested to see what will happen with Holden if/when GM goes bankrupt. From next year they will be building the Cruz sedan in Australia and a yet to be seen hatch version, so they should be reasonably self sufficient with domestic sales and exports. but you never know what might happen these days
the Aveo was completely useless when it was launched in 2002 as the Kalos, for it to soldier on until 2011 is madness
holden is a funny one in that they are in the process of divorcing from any opel involvement
the opels are just too expensive
so they have largely korean knockoffs and the commodore which is a lot more unexciting than the Pontiac G8s you get
the basic Commodore has a 3.8 alloytec v6 and a 4 spd auto which is very very unexciting
the upper spec. LS3 6.3 litre sports models is pretty good but the day of the 400hp 4,000lb saloon is coming to an end
and the problem is that’s what is carrying the industry
Yes, reclusive in nature, why is it the Europeans aren’t rushing to adopt your more successful version of capitalism? Is it GM? Bernie Madoff?
Expect more ridicule.
Most Europeans don’t have the same voting rights we do. I’ve been to a good portion of Europe and can attest that their standards of living are a lot lower than ours.
GM is no longer a positive, or even negative, example of capitalism as it is now on the verge of being nationalised. (A very European idea.) If our leadership practiced true capitalism it could have died on it’s own and something else would replace it.
Mr. Madoff is just proof that any system is unexploitable. The only difference between Madoff and most of the leaders Europe is that when said leaders rob it’s people (via taxes and nationalising industries) they don’t get prosecuted. If a schemer like Madoff had been born in Europe instead of America, he’d probably be head of the EU.
As for ridicule, maybe I should have phrased that differently. Perhaps I should have used “make fun of” People on the wrong side of a conflict don’t ridicule. That would hint that they are somehow better or correct. Sort of like if the Arizona Cardinals ridiculed how the Steelers played after losing to them in the Super Bowl. Some Americans make me imagine Steelers fans yelling at Steeler players to, “Stop scoring so many points! The other team will make fun of us!”
There’s good Korea, and then there’s GM Korea.
While the streets around here burst with newer-generation Hyundai Santa Fes, Sonatas and WTF-lime-green Accents, Daewoo continues to build rolling turds that only a pathological tightwad could love.
Don1967: I’m a pathological tightwad and I resemble that remark…
I meant “pathological tightwad” in the nicest way of course :)
don1967: LOL