GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co expects to export 15,000 Magnus, Lacetti and Kalos cars a month to North America starting in October, the Detroit News reported.
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South Korea’s third-largest car maker on Monday shipped 1,024 Lacetti cars and another 7,276 units will be sent next month, GM Daewoo said in an e-mailed statement cited by the paper, which added that the car maker on Tuesday plans to ship 1,272 Magnus and Kalos sedans.
According to the Detroit News, GM Daewoo said exports to Europe, Canada and the US will help it sell a total of 400,000 units at home and abroad this year, 42% more than a year earlier. It also expects to assemble 200,000 cars in China and other countries this year, the paper added.
“Our full-scale operation for the North American market has been initiated by exporting the Lacetti and Kalos,” GM Daewoo president and CEO Nick Reilly reportedly said in the statement, adding: “By acquiring a fixed demand from the North American market, we have further stabilised the operation of our production plants.”
According to the report, John Smith, General Motors’ group vice president of sales and marketing, said in February that the firm plans North American sales next year of as many as 150,000 GM Daewoo models, which will compete with low- priced Hyundai vehicles, also from South Korea.
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By GlobalDataThe Lacetti models will be sold as Suzuki Forenzas in the US and as Chevrolet Optras in Canada while the Kalos will be sold as the Chevrolet Aveo in Canada. Magnus sedans, first shipped to North America in July, are sold as Suzuki Veronas in the US and Chevrolet Epicas in Canada, the Detroit News added.
The report noted that GM Daewoo sold 317,794 vehicles in the first eight months of the year, 15% more than a year earlier, and, of that total, exports rose more by more than a third to 222,468 units, while local sales dropped 13% to 95,326.
