GM Daewoo unveils new large sedan

Koreas GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co., a unit of General Motors Corp. (GM), unveiled its new large sedan as it looks for ways to stimulate fragile demand in South Korea and compete with market leader Hyundai Motor Co. The Veritas sedan will “open a new chapter for GM Daewoo’s product line-up,” said GM Daewoo President and CEO Michael Grimaldi, in a Korean-language statement, without giving a sales target. The new sedan uses a 3.6-liter gasoline engine and was jointly developed with Holden of Australia, another subsidiary of GM. The new car, which will be available for sale in South Korea in October, is priced from 46.5 to 57.8 million won (US$40,106 to US$49,852), depending on accessories, GM Daewoo said in the statement. GM Daewoo was set up in 2002 after GM acquired Daewoo Motor Co., the automobile unit of the Daewoo Group. GM owns a 50.9% stake in the unlisted GM Daewoo, which sold 1.52 million vehicles in 2007. (September 4, 2008)