Get Your Head Straight, GM Daewoo!

A Guest Editorial by Kim Yeong-su. Chosun Ilbo

Seoul March 23, 2004; These days, the biggest topic of conversation in the domestic auto world is the arrival of Japanese mid-sized passenger cars. In the case of the Honda Accord, it's expected to hit the Korean market in the second half of the year, and it will be priced similarly to the high-end Hyundai Grandeur XG model (roughly W30 million). If Korea and Japan sign a free trade pact, the price of the Accord is expected to fall to W20 million. That would place the car at the same price level of the EF Sonata. This being the case, which car would the consumer choose? The time when people bought domestic cars out of patriotism has passed. The fact that the Toyota Lexus shot straight to Number 2 in sales in Korea's imported car market is good proof of this. Yet with a typhoon of Japanese cars approaching Korean shores, it seems only GM Daewoo has yet to get its head straight. For the last year, auto-related Internet bulletin boards have been full of voices of fury condemning GM Daewoo. There is nothing to say about the notorious Rezzo, and even the popular "Matiz" has become the target of people's anger.

If you clink onto the Internet homepage of the "Association for Driving More than 10 Years," there is a "Let's Recall" section. The commonly cited cars found in that section are the Rezzo, Matiz, and Carnival. The section was made so that if enough car owners cited the same part of the same model car frequently malfunctioning, the group could then demand that the company recall the model.

If you first click on the Matiz section, there are countless posts on huge losses resulting from problems with the car's coolant system. There is an endless line of petitions from car owners complaining of engine corrosion, piston damage, and even the engine stopping while driving, mostly because of the engine overheating due to coolant fluid not being circulating smoothly. Indeed, there are some who go as far as to say "GM Daewoo, blow yourself up!" One car owner said frankly, "I was really hurt by the company's explanation that there was nothing wrong with the car, and that it broke down due to driver negligence."

It's been a year since reports of the Matiz being a lemon started to flood in. During that year, GM Daewoo failed to take any measures, and only last week did it announce a recall because of the Matiz's coolant system, almost like a doctor making a house call to a dead patient. And even then, the company stood on its recall regulations and said that it couldn't reimburse those customers who had the car repaired at their own expense. GM Daewoo delayed fixing a rotten car, and then refused to reimburse those costumers who could wait no longer -- this is evading responsibility.

Earlier this month, at the height of the Matiz recall controversy, GM Daewoo CEO Nick Reilly held a press conference in Bupyeong. He announced, "In order to reaffirm our intention to continue expanding GM's business in Korea, we will invest W170 million into Daewoo Motors." He's the man who appeared in a TV commercial and asked us -- in Korean -- to witness a reborn GM Daewoo. If your company has really be reborn, you must relieve the pain of those car owners who have suffered heartache and financial losses as a result of your piece of junk car. Now, is a subsidiary of the world's largest car company simply going to sit on its regulations?