GM Daewoo to invest $3.2 bln to meet rising demand

SEOUL, March 27, 2007; Reuters reported that GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co., South Korea's third-largest auto maker, said on Tuesday it plans to invest 3 trillion won ($3.2 billion) in coming years and will look into expanding factories to meet rising demand.

"We will make the same volume of investment that we have made for the last four years," Michael A. Grimaldi, GM Daewoo's president and chief executive officer, was quoted as saying by a company spokesman.

GM Daewoo spent about a total of 3 trillion won from 2002 to 2006 on new car development, production facilities and research and development.

The spokesman said GM Daewoo might expand its factories to accommodate increasing demand, although details of the investments, such as a time frame, have not been decided yet.

GM Daewoo expects its sales to rise about 20 percent to 1.7 million-1.8 million units this year, after the company sold 1.53 million units, including kits, last year.

The number represented a 32 percent increase from 2005, due to solid sales in Europe, North America and emerging markets such as Russia, China and India. GM Daewoo exports about more than 80 percent of its output.

Although the bulk of GM Daewoo cars are sold under the Chevrolet brand, others sell as Pontiac, Holden and Suzuki models.