Daewoo Motor's Newest Model Enters the Market Mid-November

1 November 1996

 
Daewoo Motor will start selling its new passenger car model, `Lanos,'
from November 16 on the domestic market.  Lanos is the first model
Daewoo has developed independently in four years since it broke up its
partnership with General Motors (GM) of the United States in 1992.

Daewoo has succeeded in developing the new subcompact at a total cost
of 350 billion won (about $450 million) over the past two and a half
years..

The Lanos with an engine capacity of 1,500cc is the result of 30
months of intensive design and development efforts by Daewoo's global
research network, including the Pupyong Technical Center, the Daewoo
Worthing Technical Center in England and the Daewoo Munich Research
Center in Germany.

With the successful development of Lanos, Daewoo will stop producing
LeMans that has been produced over the past ten years.

Daewoo already replaced its LeMans production lines in the Pupyong
factory in Inchon and completed test production during the
May-September period. The plant is capable of producing some 300,000
Lanos models a year.

Daewoo hopes to sell about 10,000 Lanos models every month at home so
that it can raise its domestic sub-compact market share up to 40
percent. Daewoo plans to begin exporting the subcompact model starting
early next year.

Daewoo said Lanos was designed and engineered to outperform other
international models in its class to become a popular world-class car.

In particular, Daewoo expects Lanos to become a major competitor
against Toyota Tercel and the Opel Astra on the world market.

To achieve the ambitious goal, Daewoo crafted a world-class foreign
technology partership. Daewoo worked with Italdesign of Italy for the
Lanos design, with Porsche of Germany for suspension and with Ricardo
of England for engine development.

Lanos, a combination of international technology, features the latest
in European aerodynamic styling and has completed test-driving under
harsh conditions in eight nations over a 24-month period, including
Death Valley in the US, Kapus Kasing in Canada and Alice Springs in
Australia.

To meet the 1998 European standards for safety, the Lanos achieved
30-40 percent improvement in body frame strength and impact durability
over conventional subcompacts.

Lanos will have two models--that with the 1.5 double overhead
camshaft engine with a maximum horsepower of 110 and a top speed of
185km per hour and another with an SOHC engine with 96 horsepower and
a maximum speed of 180km per hour.

The retail price of the four-door Lanos will be some 6 million won
(about $7,200) per unit. Daewoo plans to produce three-door and
five-door hatchback Lanos models beginning early next year.

Meanwhile, Daewoo will introduce a semi-mid-size car model and an
intermediate size car during the first half of next year.