Mr Gerard O'Toole, group chief executive and chairman of Nissan and Daewoo Ireland, said the Daewoo franchise in Ireland would continue to trade as normal despite the fact that the car manufacturer has been placed under court protection in South Korea.
"Daewoo sought court protection in South Korea which will allow it to restructure the business," said Mr O'Toole. "It is still operating. It is still producing cars and we are still selling them. We are an independent franchise and we're continuing business as usual without interruption to supply and service."
The Daewoo range was introduced to Ireland in January 1999 and has established itself in the top 10 motor marques through aggressive advertising and pricing, Mr O'Toole said. The franchise, which now has 27 outlets in Ireland, spends £1.25 million (€1.27 million) a year on its advertising, he said.
"We've been here two years and we've reached a top 10 position. We have 3 three per cent of the market and we increased sales by 78 per cent on last year," said Mr O'Toole.
Mr O'Toole is also executive chairman of Nissan Ireland which is controlled by the Al Babtain group of Kuwait. The Al Babtain group is also believed to be an investor in Daewoo Ireland along with Mr O'Toole.
For the nine months to September 30th Daewoo had sold 6,680 passenger cars and 48 light commercial vehicles in Ireland, according to figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).
