Independent British van maker LDV yesterday announced that it has severed all formal links with Daewoo Motor following agreements reached in August. As part of the agreed settlement, LDV has acquired Daewoo’s shareholding and Daewoo no longer holds any LDV shares.
LDV has retained the intellectual property rights to the light commercial vehicle project codenamed BD100 (expected to be an all-new van and pickup range to replace LDV’s ageing current line-up). LDV said in a statement that it would now be able to develop and manage its own future strategy and to find an alternative way to bring the new range to market.
“Our first priority now is to bring our new vehicle programme to the marketplace,” said LDV Chief Executive Allan Amey.
“We do not rule out other alliances or joint ventures in the future as and when appropriate, an increasingly common practice within our industry. “We have shared much in the past four years with Daewoo and have gained from their special expertise, particularly in the areas of product development and manufacturing engineering.”
LDV currently markets three van ranges: the Cub (a re-badged Spanish-built Nissan Serena van) and the Pilot and Convoy built in its own Birmingham factory in the English Midlands.
