Daewoo Winstorm

GM Daewoo name their new medium SUV, Winstorm and announce an agreement to rehire by the end of May all 1,725 workers laid off in the 2001 restructuring plan

GM Daewoo announced that it named their edition of the Korean developed medium SUV, Winstorm. The Winstorm- a combination of the words 'Win' and 'Storm', is scheduled to debut in Korea in June. The vehicle will have a 2.0 litre diesel VGT (Variable Geometry Turbo) engine and it will be available in five-seater and seven-seater editions. The car will fit somewhere in-between Hyundai's Santa Fe and Tucson models, with prices yet to be announced.

GM Chairman Rick Wagoner, now in Korea, visited the company's plant in Bupyeong, Gyeonggi Province and tested the vehicle himself. "The Winstrom will carry on the tradition of my company, which developed the world's first SUV Chevy Suburban in 1935," he said. "I believe it will play a big role in increasing our market share worldwide not only in Korea."

* The Daewoo Winstorm is practically the same car as the Chevrolet Captiva (Click on the link to see the full press release, specifications & pictures: Read more HERE & HERE). This medium SUV will also base an Opel version for Europe and a Saturn version aimed for the USA


GM DAEWOO REHIRES LAID OFF WORKERS

Union and management representatives of GM Daewoo Auto & Technology on Friday announced an agreement to rehire by the end of May all 1,725 workers laid off in restructuring in 2001, when GM acquired Daewoo Motors. GM Daewoo is the first company in the country that has ever hired back every last worker it rationalized out.

In the past five years, GM Daewoo has been reborn as an entirely different firm. Its sales last year increased 30 percent from the previous year and its exports 50 percent. As a result, GM Daewoo netted profits of W64.7 billion (US$64.7 million), a record even counting the years when it was plain Daewoo Motors. That success is due to vibrant exports taking advantage of GM's worldwide marketing networks, and particularly to hugely improved exports to China.

Now GM Daewoo is able to rehire all the 1,700-plus workers it laid off. The firm plans to move from the current single shift at the Bupyeong Plant into two shifts in June, when all five GM Daewoo plants will go into full operation.

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