GM Daewoo’s exports increased to 1.42 million vehicles in 2009 as strong growth continued.
General Motors Company today announced that its GM Daewoo Auto & Technology, Inc. subsidiary will fully repay its Korean revolving credit line by December 8.
GM owns 70% of the automaker, which it – ironically – acquired when the parent Daewoo Group went bankrupt during the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998.
The privately traded GM-Daewoo is South Korea’s fourth largest automaker, and is the source of many small cars for GM throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas.
GM Daewoo produces vehicles and kits that are offered in more than 150 markets on six continents. GM Daewoo’s exports – including complete vehicles and complete knockdown (CKD) kits – increased to 1.42 million vehicles in 2009 from 440,000 vehicles in 2003, GM Daewoo’s first full year of operation.
GM Daewoo had a drawn balance of $1 billion as of September 30, 2010, as GM rode out the Great Recession.
It is the latest example of GM strengthening its balance sheet, which ultimately could increase the price of its stock so that U.S. and Canadian take payers will receive in full a return on their $60 billion in loans made to GM to reorganize it.
It is estimated that taxpayers will lose more than $10 billion dollars on the transaction at current prices.
General Motors CFO Chris Liddell said in a statement, “Following our successful IPO, we will continue to take opportunities to strengthen our balance sheet. Our objective remains to have minimal debt and a fully funded pension plan.”
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
