Daewoo to be Chevvies in European market

General Motors is set to scrap the Daewoo badge from its Korean-made cars in Europe and replace it with the Chevrolet name it uses in North America and China.

GM Europe will announce the change at the Paris motor show in September, according to sources in the company.

The move comes in spite of an intensive 18-month advertising campaign that cost tens of millions of euros designed to rebuild the Daewoo brand, in particular linking it more closely with its US parent.

GM bought a 44.6 per cent stake in the Korean marque in October 2002 after it went bankrupt.

Officially GM Daewoo are claiming the decision has not been finalised though a review is underway.

"It is certainly actively being considered," GM Daewoo said. "We would be stupid not to consider it."

Daewoo models are already sold as Chevrolet in Croatia, Poland, Romania, Turkey and seven other countries.

But in 16 other European markets, including Ireland, they are branded Daewoo.

The mass-market Chevrolet badge is little known in western Europe, apart from some famous models such as the Corvette.

However, the move to replace the name is said to be only a rebranding exercise and would not initially involve a change in model line-up.

The Daewoo brand will survive only in parts of Asia. In Australia last month, the brand was withdrawn from market after poor sales.

However, globally last year GM Daewoo sold 113,386 vehicles in western Europe, up 20.0 per cent from 2002.

In Ireland, the Daewoo brand has seen its market share rise steadily to 1.14 per cent, with sales of 1,390 cars during the first six months of the year.

Additional reporting: FT