Lada - Daewoo - Chevrolet !?

[Eric]

The successor of the Lada Niva (the 4x4) will not be sold through Lada dealerships in the Netherlands. The new model, which is basically an SUV instead of a real 4x4 as the Niva was will be based on Opel technique and will be sold badged as a Chevrolet through Daewoo dealerships.....

I read this today and I must say, it does not get any easier in the car-industry with all these mergers / take-overs / cooperations.....

[stanhas87]

Dear Eric:

This is interesting.

On the US,Daewoos are being sold as Suzuki;and Geo Metros were Suzukis with Geo badge.
Any more complications?

I also know that the Chevrolet Blazer is offered in Russia with a locally built front end design;the Opel Frontera is an Isuzu,and so on.................

[Eric]

Nick,

I knew about the Suzuki / Geo models, another one I know of is the Suzuki Vitara which was sold as Geo Tracker in the US.
There is, however, another model, the Geo Storm..... any ideas what this model was based on ?

[Christian]

Eric said:

There is, however, another model, the Geo Storm..... any ideas what this model was based on ?

Allegedly on the Isuzu Impulse.

[skunk]

The Metro was later sold as a Chevy Metro, making a full circle from the original Suzuki Swift/SA410 which was sold here as the Chevrolet Sprint (also Pontiac Firefly in Canada). My first car was a Chevy Turbo Sprint, 1.0 3-cyl w/ 70hp - still miss it. I finally got a Rietze Swift which I intend to convert into my old Turbo Sprint. ;D

Another interesting permutation is that the Daewoo Magnus will be sold stateside as the "Suzuki Verona", while smaller Daewoos will be badged as Chevrolets... Meanwhile, the old Daewoo LeMans (Opel Kadett) was sold here as a Pontiac, my parents have one. Eminently unsuitable to American stop-and-go traffic, as it is fairly anemic but retains the stratospheric autobahn gearing...

The Suzuki Ignis is also available in the far east as the Chevrolet/Holden Cruze, to add to the confusion.

But my favorite badge engineered Daewoo is the Honda Legend, the 2nd generation of which was called Daewoo Arcadia in Korea.

[stanhas87]

Dear Eric:

Christian's right:this car was the Impulse in the US,Gemini in Japan.according to the 1990 edition of Cars International.

GM is like this: during most of its history its just kept buying or associating with other companies;I can cite also the Chevrolet Nova-badged Toyotas and is the current owner of FIAT (and as I heard is deciding what to do with it);it also connected with Suzuki and Isuzu in Japan and the net result is a complicated-but diverse-car line up.
It also owns Saab,Hummer and so on..................

[superba]

Not to contradict you Nick, but GM does not own Hummer.

GM owns the name Hummer and rights to market it

Generation One Hummers are made by AM General in Mishawaka Indiana, in the old Studebaker truck plant.

In its present form, AM General is the old Studebaker Military Division that was sold to Kaiser/Willys then AMC, then spun off after the Chrysler take over.

GM also built the new plant in Michawaka in a complicated deal with AM General, but I believe the plant is owned by AM General.

The Second Generation Hummer designed by GM is actually built for GM by AM General.

So in essence, H1 trucks sold to the military are performed in one on one transactions between AM General and Dept. of Defense.

Consumer Market Hummers are sold to GM directly from Hummer, and then sold in GM Hummer dealers showrooms.

[stanhas87]

Dear Joe:

Another of GM complications...............

In Brazil,Opels are sold under the Chevrolet name.Holden are sold as Chevrolets in other parts of the world............................

I am glad the Hummer has a degree of Independence from GM.Is Interesting to note that at their commercials,Hummer is listed as one of their divisions,and that is quite confusing.

[BillC]

Skunk is right about the current arrangement, but GM has the right to acquire AM General.

GM does not own Fiat. They own 20% of the company and there is a put option by which Fiat can require GM to buy the rest. GM is currently doing everything it can to prevent Fiat from exercising the option, which comes up this year.

GM owns pieces of Suzuki, Isuzu and Subaru. They don't have a controlling interest in any of them.

Suzuki is currently selling two Daewoos, the Magnus-based Verona and the Forenza, which is an updated Nubira. Chevy is selling the Kalos as the Aveo.

Chevrolet brought in the Kalos/Aveo so they could jack up the price of the Cobalt, which will replace the Cavalier.

While we're on the subject, don't forget the Opel/Vauxhall Sintra, which was a rebadged Chevy Venture built in Dothan, Georgia. Yet one more of GM's "badge-bombs."

In the future, the Saab 9-2 will be a Subaru built in an American plant and the Saab 9-7 SUV will be a rebadged Chevy TrailBlazer. Even though Saab just finished one of its best sales year ever in the U.S., GM isn't happy with the volumes, so they are going to stick Saab labels everywhere they can. Saab will eventually become just a brand.

[stanhas87]

Dear Sirs:

Typical of GM.I heard about the Fiat battle and the options that GM has over it.The Fiat is also an extensive group of companies;if GM gets Fiat it will became even bigger than already is.Thing is,Fiat is so troubled and that is the reason that GM does not want to get it.

In Brazil,the Opel Rekord was sold as a Chevy (the well-liked Opala) and now Holden Caprices carry the badge Chevrolet in several countries.

I already read that Saab under GM lost its flavor as a distinctive make.

[skunk]

Marc said:

Hakan,

Daewoo cars have been offered in Europe for a while, prior to GM ownership that is. I don't think someone who is in the market for an Opel/Vauxhall will seriously consider a Daewoo, whether it's called Chevrolet or not. These are cheap imports, after all. Your point should be valid for the Suzuki-sourced Opel Agila, though.

Marc S.

Good point Marc.
Well, I think that Chevrolet might be more of a threat to Opel than Daewoo was ever capable of being. In Sweden, for instance, the Opel Sintra (if anyone remembers that) sold as badly as elsewhere in Europe, but when the same car was offered as the Chevrolet TransSport, sales shot through the roof. The Chevy badge had much more cachet than Opel.

I have to admit that I do not know which sales structure will be used to peddle the Korean Chevies. Will it be an independent dealer network, based on the old Daewoo one, or will Opel dealers have to accomodate them? I assume that the situation will differ for different countries. This should determine much of the impact Chevrolet might have on Opel sales.

Finally, Opels, while not bargain basement cars, do occupy a lower rung on the automotive ladder in Europe. I would think that the label "Chevrolet" would be able to confer much more prestige. I know my German relatives always disdainfully referred to the big Opels, Rekords and Omegas, as "Schlachterwagens"...
To be honest, though, I cannot think of a good way for GM to compete with BMW and Opel in status conscious Europe, not even with a fully revived Saab brand. One could compare with Ford/Jaguar. I think that copying Peugeot/Citroën/Renaults strategies might be the best idea to revive GM Europe's flagging fortunes, but that is hardly gonna work with rebadged Daewoos and Ladas.

[stanhas87]

Dear Sirs:

To me it seems that Holden is doing a tad better than other GM divisions. In South Africa and the Middle East these were rebadget as Chevys, and the latter does like them as police cruisers; in Brazil the Holden Commodore Estate - not the Opel - is the model that is sold there with the Omega name;Opel had a long stronghold in that Country and the Rekord/Opala was very well liked there. If the GTO was not had became so bland - it looks like the lowly Gran Am - it would be a sucess story; likewise, I could see a Holden Commodore/Caprice as the new Impala (but GM insists still on the bland Lumina-based model). I can say that I am fan of that make as well and I do not see any way GM can win the European market with re-badged Daewoos; to my view, they could have a chance with the Holdens.

[Marc S.]

skunk said:

I have to admit that I do not know which sales structure will be used to peddle the Korean Chevies. Will it be an independent dealer network, based on the old Daewoo one, or will Opel dealers have to accomodate them?

As of 1/1/2005, Daewoo as a brand does not exist anymore in Europe. All former Daewoo cars wear the Chevrolet badge, and dealers lost the old logo. They will (automatically) be Chevy dealers in the future, selling the old Korea-built cars.

Large Opel dealers which also had a GM showroom will lose the Chevy part and make do with Cadillacs, Hummers, the Corvette (not a Chevy anymore) and maybe, maybe not GMC-badged Trailblazers and Tahoes. There may be the occasional Opel dealer with a New-Chevy showroom, but this is not the norm. However, quite a number of Opel dealers already have fiercer in-house competition than Daewoo/Chevy would mean: There is a combined Ford-Opel dealer in Düsseldorf's neighbourhood as well as several Opel-Citroen and Opel-Honda showrooms.

By the way, Fiat denied GM-Daewoo their very nice multijet diesel engines. They argued they would not deliver these to a direct competitor. Opel, on the other hand, does get these engines, available in Corsa, Astra, and Vectra guise. So, these are not direct competitors for Fiat...

Marc S.

[skunk]

Marc said:

As of 1/1/2005, Daewoo as a brand does not exist anymore in Europe. All former Daewoo cars have been badged as Chevrolets, and dealers lost the old logo. They will (automatically) be Chevy dealers in the future, selling the old Korean-built cars.

Large Opel dealers that also had a GM showroom will lose the Chevy part and make do with Cadillacs, Hummers, the Corvette (not a Chevy anymore) and maybe, maybe not GMC-badged Trailblazers and Tahoes. There may be the occasional Opel dealer with a New-Chevy showroom, but this is not the norm. However, quite a number of Opel dealers already have fiercer in-house competition than Daewoo/Chevy would mean: There is a combined Ford-Opel dealer in Düsseldorf's neighbourhood as well as several Opel-Citroen and Opel-Honda showrooms.

By the way, Fiat denied GM-Daewoo their very nice multijet diesel engines. They argued they would deliver these to a direct competitor. Opel, on the other hand, does get these engines, available in Corsa, Astra, and Vectra guise. So, these are not direct competitors for Fiat...

Marc S.

Excellent, thank you for the info. I wonder what the situation will be like in other European countries, where Opel doesn't have the same market presence as in Germany.

[Lee]

This all sounds a little like "pin the tail on the donkey"