GM plans to make 900,000 autos in Korea

SEOUL, May 13 Reuters repeated a story found in the Korea Economic Daily which reported that General Motors Corp, which recently acquired key assets of bankrupt Daewoo Motor Co, plans to target a bigger market share by producing 900,000 automobiles annually in South Korea.

The paper quoted Daewoo Motor President Kim Seok-hwan, who said, "the world's largest automaker aimed to top its original production target of 700,000 units in South Korea.

GM has a business plan to beat Hyundai Motor in the passenger car sector, rather than making Daewoo Motor a simple subcontractor."

The U.S. automaker is seeking to regain Daewoo's previous 20 percent share of South Korea's 1.4 million unit automobile market, the newspaper said. As part of this plan, GM plans to roll out one new model later this year and two new models next year, including a new sport utility vehicle (SUV).

Capping more than a year of talks, GM last month agreed to lead a $400 million investment with unnamed partners to take a controlling stake in a joint venture with Daewoo's creditors