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Revision as of 17:36, 31 May 2005 by Verces (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Template:Koreanname noimage Daewoo (meaning "Great Universe") is a major South Korean chaebol (conglomerate). It was founded in March 22, 1967 as Daewoo Industrial.
Daewoo Group, as was the official name, had under its umbrella, major corporations, Daewoo Electronics, a strong force both internationally and in Korea, Daewoo Heavy Industries, excelling in creating heavy duty machinery, and Daewoo Ship Building, under Heavy Industries boasted and still boasts one of the highest level of production of containers and oil tankers in the world today. Daewoo Securities, a financial securities company, Daewoo Telecom, concentrating on the telecommunication aspect of the electronics, Daewoo Construction, an international company, famous for building highways, dams and skyscrapers for countries especially in the mid-east and Africa. Daewoo International, a successful trading organisation, now still in operation. There were about 20 divisions under Daewoo Group, which now no longer exists. Daewoo Group was once the second largest conglomerate after Hyundai and followed by LG and Samsung in Korea before the crisis.
Daewoo Motors arrived in the UK in 1995, as the only - at the time - manufacturer not using traditional dealerships: it owned and operated its own retail network. It was once considered to be nearing the top 10 motor companies in production.
Daewoo Group ran into deep financial trouble in 1998 due to the Asian financial crisis and the defunct Korean government under President Kim Dae Jung. The government could not keep their own defecits down to a respectable level, so had to push companies like Daewoo off the chart. This ended with the ultimate destruction and dismantling of the Daewoo Group without much opposition. Chairman, Kim Woo Jung was exiled in silent force overseas and was named fugitive after he did not return. Kim was promised by President that he would have Daewoo returned and restored if he left the country with Daewoo under the auspices of the government. Much to Chairman Kim's dismay, the creditors and the government did not carry out their promise, and managed to disintegrate the second largest conglomerate in South Korea, a hugely international company based around near 100 countries to an appalling halt.
Daewoo was forced to sell off its automotive arm Daewoo Motors to General Motors by the Kim administration. Since then, GM has been moving to rebadge Daewoo cars as the low-end models for many brands, including Chevrolet. GM was sued by Daewoo's former US dealer network over this practice, since they no longer have new Daewoo cars to sell.
Daewoo Electronics survives to this day despite bankruptcy, with a new brand logo "DE", but much of the other many subsidiaries and divisions have all departed and became independent or simply perished under the brutal "reorganisation" of the Korean government under Kim Dae Jung.
The group was reorganized into three big parts: Daewoo International, Daewoo Engineering & Construction and Daewoo Corporation. It is active in many markets; the most important are steel processing, ship building and financial.
In early 2004, Daewoo pulled out of Australia, citing irreparable brand damage, and later that year, from New Zealand. Later the same year, GM announced that Daewoo Motors in Europe would change its name to Chevrolet as of 1st January 2005. In South Africa, Thailand and the Middle East, Daewoo models were already being sold as Chevrolets. Only in South Korea and Vietnam would the Daewoo marque survive.
Back in 1980s and early 1990s, Daewoo brand also produced consumer electronics, computers, telecommunication products, construction equipment, buildings, ships and musical instruments (Daewoo Piano).