Here’s how Daewoo Motors tried and failed to gain independence from GM

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In this episode I provide the history of Daewoo Motors, starting in 1988 with the Pontiac LeMans, which was a rebadged Opel Kadett. After that car's failure by 1993, Daewoo launched three new cars of their own in North America, the Lanos, Nubira, and Leganza, starting in 1998. But all three of those cars were gone by 2002 following Daewoo's bankruptcy. GM would then acquire Daewoo's assets to become GM Korea, where they later built the Chevy Aveo, Spark and Sonic, as well as other cars still being produced today long after the death of the Daewoo brand.

[@y33t88]

8:12 Fun fact: the Daewoo Lacetti did make it to North America as the Chevrolet Optra in Canada and as the Suzuki Forenza in the US

[@engineer_alv]

That's right. And I believe the Suzuki Reno was its HB counterpart, a friend had one and it was far from a good experience

[@damilolaakanni]

I have sat in a Chevrolet Optra before, and while its interior held up pretty well after 17 years, it isn't fun to drive at all. It's surprisingly hard to shift that car into reverse (it's a five speed dogleg manual transmission). You'd normally pull the piece of rubber under the shifter to shift it into reverse, but even that was very difficult.

[@nicolasisquithcarreno9692]

In Colombia My grandfather’s last car was a Chevy Optra 5 speed manual I remember taking road trips with it

[@bikingD]

@@damilolaakanni Had an Optra. Was a great little car. Shifter was fine and reverse no issue. The strange thing was front power windows back roll up windows.

[@scottbogfoot]

There was 3 models the optra, optima and the spectra that were all Korean.

[@mhanko]

I own a 2004 Aveo 5 door hatchback. It is doing fabulously well. The Achilles Heel on these cars is the fact that the timing belt needs to be replaced every 60K miles. And it's not so much the belt as the idler pulley which is made of plastic and eventually cracks apart (!!) Many owners have ignored the belt change and being an interference engine, the pulley failure becomes an engine killer. Consequently these cars are becoming very rare on the street, but not in the boneyard. There was also a recall on the daytime driving light module that was said to be a fire hazard, but mine has never been a problem. I acquired my car in 2020 at 65K miles, immediately changed the belt/pulleys/water pump, (The idler pulley was cracked halfway through the radius) and did some other routine maintenance, and the car is a joy to drive. It is a peppy and nimble little go-kart of a car. It is comfortable and roomier that it would seem to be.The sheet metal is a bit on the thin side, and being in Chicago, I did acquire it with a certain amount of rust, but nothing unmanageable. Anyway, bottom line is I love it and am babying it...no salty winter driving on this baby. I have a Cherokee XJ for that. The Italian design is distinct. I do believe the 2004-2005 5 door hatchbacks are a classic design. I am routinely complimented on the car being cute...and it is. Aerodynamic with rounded edges. Of all the Aveo/Sonic/Spark models, I like this design best. I consider it a collectable. Gas mileage could be better (28 highway, 20-22 city) for a 1.6L engine, but I'm not complaining. It has been a totally dependable daily driver . It's a keeper over here.

[@emmcee476]

Thanks for the comment. I always appreciate hearing an owner's first hand experience

[@areasevenpro]

You forgot to mention that several Daewoo models continued to be sold in the 2000s as rebadged Suzukis. For example, the Lacetti was sold as the Forenza (sedan) and Reno (hatchback).

[@tomd815]

i was gonna say that looks like the forgettable Forenza

[@JackieTheTruck]

Admittedly I was a Suzuki fanboy back in the day of the original Geo Metro (Suzi Swift) and Suzuki Sidekick, I just like their simple design and ease of maintenance. In the past decade or so, the Suzuki name has been utter garbage and I found out it was because they were just rebadging Daewoos as Suzukis. Instead of backing out of the American market where they couldnt keep up, they decided to destroy any reputation they had by buying and then reselling some of the worst cars available at the time. What a shame

[@nfscamilo4]

Lacetii was the Chevrolet Optra in Canada

[@tomd815]

@@JackieTheTruck unfortunately they seemed to be a company that could only make affordable small cars, they did have the decent looking Kizashi in the US at the end but it needed to be part of a brand that wasnt dying. Surprising they could never use their motorcycle heritage and brand to expand offerings.

[@JackieTheTruck]

@@tomd815 I totally agree, they were great at making small economy cars. It's always odd to me that companies wont stick to a segment even if its not glorious, since so many American companies really struggled to make decent economy entry level cars in the 90s and early 2000s

[@johndornoff]

I worked for a car rental company for a couple of years in the early 1990s when the Lemans was still being built. The owner of our franchise bought a bunch of the Lemans at auctions so that they could be used as cars to encourage customers to upgrade to a better car. However, our sales department actually like the Lemans and always said they seemed to have fewer issues with those cars when they were sold than some other cars with better reputations.

[@k.b.tidwell]

I worked for the local Chevy dealer in 1989-90, and had bought an 88 sedan model off the used lot because I was young, not rich, just married, and not well-informed on what was really a good or bad car. I worked in the parts department and I did realize that we rarely had them in the shop for repair. I actually enjoyed the car. Fuel mileage was great and it wasn't unpleasant to drive, but it did have valvetrain problems about a year in. It wasn't an expensive fix and when I traded the car off it wasn't because I didn't like it. My wife simply wanted something bigger. Fun fact: the technician who repaired it said the engine was Brazilian-manufactured.

[@cmdrdarwin3682]

@@k.b.tidwell - I worked for a Pontiac dealer & we didn’t see too many Lemans (Daewoo) in for major service - just lots of little things, like seat belt lights, radios, etc.

[@walterty3627]

It boiled down to German Opel design/engineering via Korea - German reliability at reasonable cost.

[@moribas]

@@k.b.tidwell this car was called Chevrolet Kadett here in Brazil. Sold really well.

[@whynotagain3639]

@@walterty3627 Actually the MK2 Astra (Daewoo le man's) was designed and built in the UK, nothing to do with Opel or Germany, in fact the current model is still built in the UK and imported to Germany to be rebadged as an Opel. Every other Opel\Vauxhall is as you say, designed in Germany by Opel, the Astra is the one exception.

[@seand2711]

I'm still driving my Leganza as daily driver since we purchased it new 21yrs ago. It's a great little car.

[@lordmmx1303]

i have leganza in my garage too. but in my case, it's a summer weekend car. i also have Daewoo Evanda [magnus] that is my daily driver and with 340 000+ km on clock without any bigger issues i can't really agree with anyone who says daewoo built bad cars.

[@CheapBastard1988]

@@lordmmx1303 Well the fact that you have your Daewoo in a garage says a lot. It also helps if you or your family have had it since it was new. Because they didn't really like the wet weather and the salty roads. My friend had a Lanos and it was pretty decent when it wasn't very old yet (and he got it cheap). But as it got older (not that old only 12 years), it developed a very hard to find reliability problem which turned out to be caused by corrosion on the ECU ground connection on the chassis under the passenger seat. Also rust was starting to form everywhere and expanded rapidly (in the typical '90's Opel fashion). Also the interior wasn't very well finished and wasn't made of very pleasant materials either. Of course at that point it was also made on an ancient platform which was becoming noticeable in both handling and safety. As a second hand car a few years down the road, it felt much older than it actually was. And that car was taken care of much better than my current 2001 Ford Mondeo but even at nearly 21 years old, it is still in better condition than that 1998 Lanos was in 2010. I wouldn't say that Daewoo was awful or even bad but just not as good as most other (granted more expensive) brands. They were very well priced second hand and that made up for a lot. But given the opportunity I'd prefer an older car from a different brand for the same price.

[@lordmmx1303]

@@CheapBastard1988 actually no, i'm second owner but first owner was a cop who spent most of his life in police car so leganza was resting most of the time in garage and was not driven during winter at all. That's what saved it from rusting away. But on the other hand i had many daewoo cars since day i got driver license. I had two nexias, espero, lanos and now i have Evanda as a daily. Next one will be Tosca after Evanda ends up in scrap. I also had some opels and have bmw x3 2014 but I'm having way more problems with single bmw than with all daewoos combined. I agree that plastics in lanos aren't the best, but in lanos 2 they were way better quality. Lanos was in fact based on kadett platform just slightly moddified (many parts from nexia fitted into lanos) , on the other hand it was so cheap to maintain and i never had an issue with rust on lanos, but i did some rust proofing on day i bought it. Also there were plastics covers available that you could install over rear wheels to protect car from rocks and sand and dirt that was thrown around by wheels.

[@lordmmx1303]

@@CheapBastard1988 oh and yes, i got lanos for 400 euro and sold it for 400 euro 4 years later. Bargain. I got espero for free from friend but it had issues so i scrapped it after 2 years. Nexia was my first car, i got it from parents but they never did any rust protection so even after many efforts it rusted so bad i had to scrap it. Well, it served me for 6 years. And since one point i always had at least 2 cars at the same time. Right now I have leganza, evanda, crossland x and x3 .

[@CheapBastard1988]

@@lordmmx1303 I was wondering why you've had so many but still liked them. The price makes up for a lot. Though the main thing I didn't like about the Lanos was the upholstery. It never felt nice to touch with bare skin (which is hard to avoid when wearing a t-shirt). I've been driving the same 2001 Mondeo for nearly 13 years. It wasn't cheap @ €7000 back in early 2009. But it still lasts even though I still regularly drive back home from work at about 170km/h (indicated) and even top out at 215km/h (nearly 230km/h indicated) several times a year. Also I haven't washed it for years now and rust still isn't that bad. Even after that tree fell on it which only damaged the bonnet. BMW's are typically major headaches when it comes to reliability. I've read that BMW tuning enthusiasts replace the Variable Valve Timing (known with BMW as Vanos) solenoids every 60000km just as preventive maintenance. Well designed systems usually outlast the rest of the car. Also several V8 BMW engines were just designed badly. Up to the point where a dealership would sell a new base engine block for cheap as they would fail so often. Personally I would prefer any Daewoo to a modern BMW or VW when it comes to reliability. Actually Daewoo initially did very well in Europe with their friendly dealerships and hassle free warranty claims and BMW and VAG dealerships/importers are the worst I've ever seen (especially on warranty claims like the awful VAG TFSI engines). Mercedes on the other hand have been outstanding where you could still buy brand new parts for 35 year old models at the dealership. Ford in my experience was varied, depending on the dealership in question not that a cheapskate like me often visits a dealership.

[@proffitt72]

What about an episode on Daihatsu. I always thought the Rocky was an interesting competitor to the Suzuku Side Kick.

[@SuperWooba]

Yes! I had a Charade, and it was an amazing car. I pulled a boat from Ohio to Florida, and a tiny camper from coast to coast all along the I-10 corridor. It was a beater when I got it, and only paid 30 hours of labor for it. It was probably one of the most memorable cars I've ever had.

[@markwillis5472]

Good 1

[@van0tot100]

I have one. It is awesome, economical and reliable.

[@CheapBastard1988]

They were generally regarded as very good cars and still being built in Japan. But they pulled out of many European countries due to heavy competition in their typical small car segment. Especially the Toyota Aygo / Citroën C1 / Peugeot 107 (same car from the same factory) was much cheaper but those were built in Eastern Europe and neither in Japan or France.

[@van0tot100]

@@CheapBastard1988 I think the main problem was the currency. The Yen was very high, which made Daihatsu more expensive. Still I think it is a waste, in some countries in Europe Daihatsu did really well. I still hope for a comeback, especially as more and more companies are pulling out from the smallest segment.

[@k900-x1z]

I worked for Daewoo in France from 1994 until 1997. It was a great company ; we used to sell lot of cars and the brand had a good image with customers. Price and quality were just perfect by the time for European market but GM killed us😢😢 .... We still can see many Daewoo on the road 20 years latter !!!...👍👍👍

[@echipaconstructii6614]

nice cars

[@jaredkennedy6576]

I remember working at a Dodge and Daewoo dealer in 2000, my favorite part was rolling the Daewoos off the truck and straight into my bay for recalls. Have you done a video on the first gen Mazda MPV? I had an 89 that I kinda liked.

[@a2d]

The first car I ever drove on public streets at the age of 14 was a Daewoo Leganza. My dad and I went on a trip out to California and it was our rental car. We found ourselves in the middle of nowhere and my dad asked if I wanted to drive, and I eagerly accepted. I drove for an hour or so without incident, enjoying every moment. In retrospect, the car was nothing special, but it holds a place in my heart.

[@charleschauffe5884]

For the short time I had one, it ran good, only issue I had was with the sound system which surprisingly, was one of their big selling items. Looked nice, but was cheaply made, especially the side panels & the cheap, so called leather.

[@CAROLDDISCOVER-1983]

Nice memories

[@kingkatradio]

I got one for you! The Suzuki's final years in The USA, mainly there attempt to sort of re-launch themselves in The early 2000s, models like The Verona and Forenza.

[@timothyhh]

Poor Suzuki. I think they actually had something with the little SX4, but no dealership network or marketing budget to sell them. The introduction of the Kizashi as their last attempt made zero sense to me; should've tried a bigger and/or upmarket SX4.

[@kingkatradio]

@@timothyhh I remember an established Lincoln-Mercury dealer around where I live, opened up a Suzuki dealership across street from there main dealer. One day, I went over to take a look at the Suzuki's and liked the looks of cars. However, with little dealer network and a tarnished name I knew the dealer wouldn't make it, the owners never advertised it or anything either. In 2012 when it was announced Suzuki was leaving The US market I wasn't too shocked. I'm sort of waiting for Mitsubishi to do the same thing.

[@JL-sm6cg]

I rented a Verona in New England back in 2004. It was a perfectly fine car to me. Had never heard of it until then, but still.

[@kingkatradio]

@@JL-sm6cg I sat in one but never drove it, I liked the feel of it and the way it was laid out.

[@chriscornelius2518]

@@JL-sm6cg I bought 2 of them over 3 or 4 years. They were very comfortable cars to drive and had a wonderful interior layout. Unfortunately, they just had no longevity. One died at 99k miles and the other died at 150k miles. The odd thing was they both had the same issues through ownership. The transmission was jumpy, the steering wheel radio controls didn't work, and wheel bearings. Eventually both had blown head gaskets. They were treated well with oil changes and services on time.

[@razvandobos9759]

I used to be obsessed with Daewoos back when I was little, due to their extreme rarity in the US.

[@erikbunty2016]

Dae...WOW!....lol.

[@timothyhh]

I live near one of the Daewoo test markets (Delaware) so actually saw a fair number of Daewoos on the road back on the early 2000s but they disappeared pretty quickly and the ones that remained looked way more clapped out than any 5ish year old car should look.

[@tripplegracing8276]

Aveo was also available in Chevy Trim in South Africa, I found it to be a very nice car, The Spark is really an awesome little city runner

[@johnmaki3046]

Bring one to Northern Minnesota...YOU'LL EXPERIENCE FIRST-HAND WHAT PILES OF RUSTING CRAP THESE "CARS" REALLY ARE!

[@davocko]

Aveo had decent torque for its weight, it was actually nice to drive for its price. But it is VERY insecure .

[@OLDS98]

Your videos are quite interesting to see. I find them informative. Daewoo did sell the Chevrolet Cruze as the Daewoo Lacetti, and the Holden Caprice as a Daewoo Statesman and Daewoo Veritas.

[@johnmaki3046]

Yup..A SHAME!

[@echipaconstructii6614]

Wrong...The Daewoo Lacetti Premiere was sold as a Chevy Cruze!

[@OLDS98]

@@echipaconstructii6614 In November 2008, the second-generation Lacetti was launched as the Daewoo Lacetti Premiere, a badge-engineered version of the Chevrolet Cruze, co-developed by GM Daewoo, Holden, and General Motors.

[@echipaconstructii6614]

@@OLDS98 man, you throw me copy-paste from wikipedia:)) The same wikipedia says : "In 2008, GM introduced the Cruze compact car, carrying the "J300" internal designation.[27] Mainly developed by GM Korea, this J300 iteration serves as a replacement for the Chevrolet Cobalt, Daewoo Lacetti and Holden Astra compact cars". You see what it says? Mainly developed by GM Korea. GM Korea is Daewoo. It was renamed GM Korea in 2011...in 2008 it was still Daewoo. I recognise a Daewoo when I see one.

[@ayedee6681]

I had the opel version, a GSE 1.6 i. stick shift. What an amazing car, reliable, fast, fuel efficient, had a 60 mile drive to work, 100mph, all day, every day. I enjoyed that drive. loved that car.

[@trajanaugustus8783]

Opel did not have a GSE/GSi 1.6i. You probably drove a GT or Frisco model which were pretty good performers for only 75hp.

[@nathanjoseph4284]

Nice!!! I love hearing stories about obscure car brands :)

[@jeremiahallyn4603]

Me too. I honestly had forgotten that Daewoo even existed until I saw this video.

[@manoman0]

Well, Daewoo isn't all that obscure to the industry and it's still a big corporation today.

[@tripsadelica]

Daewoo not only used European designs but they used Holden designs from Australia.

[@aashutoshbhagat2677]

We had the Opel Astra F sedan, Daewoo cielo and Daewoo lacetti as cheverolet optra and cheverolet cruze in India 🇮🇳 in the past . All GM cars, they were successful except for the cielo which flopped . The trio of Astra , Optra and Cruze were treated as sedans with built quality, Features and luxury from a segment above. The poor man's Mercedes if you could call it that. It started with Astra F sedan in the 90s for GM in India and then optra and cruze took it forward to another level. Hell the cruze is still considered as a cult classic among sedans even today when GM has left India in 2017.

[@djkenny1202]

Cruze by Cruze is one of the worst car in the USA last 10 years.

[@pranaym3859]

@@djkenny1202In India till recent years cars is considered as luxury, only few can afford it and mid to fullsize sedans like elantra, accord, camry are super rare and most of us never seen one, that's the reason why they're considered as luxury cars My friend who don't know about cars was surprised when he found 2015 cruize for 4k AUD

[@lclnbm]

@@pranaym3859 I think that the 1.4 turbo models are pretty alright cars. There's a small aftermarket for those here in the US

[@aashutoshbhagat2677]

@@pranaym3859 Elantra is decently common even the accord is seen many times even when it is out of production in India but the camry , that is super rare because its a CBU import , hence expensive as hell . People go for Toyota fortuner SUV at that price point. Plus Toyota here in India charges extra for reliability unlike others who try to price it aggressively despite being similarly reliable like Honda , Suzuki and Hyundai.

[@xiaoka]

Fun fact - @2:37 - the black plastic across the back of the Pontiac’s trunk/hatchback, as seen in the thumbnail was just there to cover over the wide European license plate indentation stamped into the sheet metal seen at 2:37.

[@xiaoka]

If you looked on the inside of the trunk lid you could still see it.

[@kylegero211]

A friend of mine had a 2000 Daewoo Leganza in the early 2000's at the time it was only 4 years old and had 21,000 miles on it. It have a variety of problems including the faux leather dashboard peeling off, back doors that didn't open, a sunroof that didn't open and leaked, and an air-conditioner that randomly turned on even in 20° weather just to name a few.

[@danieldavis3678]

Ah yes. The Daewoo Lanos. Earliest memory of that car is when I was 10 and was struck by one while crossing the street on my bike in 2011. Car was totaled. I was surprisingly fine apart from a chipped vertebrae. Ah the memories.

[@Oonagh72]

I know two people who still own and drive Daewoos. When it comes to pronunciations I always go with the US advertising. In my opinion the ad was approved by the company and that is what with which they were happy.

[@cutehumor]

how many miles they have on the Daewoos?

[@SombreroKnight]

In Mexico, the Daewoo Matiz was sold as both a Chevy and Pontiac with both using the same Matiz nameplate.

[@JFJ5991]

When I was a kid my dad had a green Daewoo Leganza he bought new. It spent more time in the workshop than in the road, it was a clunker but we loved it. He gave the car for free and bought a Camry which he is still driving with no major flaws

[@callingmealejandro]

The Lacetti was brought to America, but it was rebadged as a Suzuki Forenza.

[@Astoldby-VSHD]

I was about to say this 👌🏾🥂

[@boricuacarenthusiast2553]

Ohhh ....so that's why i dont see Forenzas running around anymore😂

[@carsonac4163]

@@boricuacarenthusiast2553 The timing belts all broke. They have a 60k interval and no one changes them

[@dinobuddy]

"Day-oo" is the correct pronunciation. In Korean, it's 대우. "대" (day) "우" (oo). Also, the "y" in Hyundai is not silent. Hyundai = 현대 = 현 (hyun) 대 (day). If you're not sure how to pronounce the "hyun" part of Hyundai, think of a cowboy trying to get a bunch of cattle moving : "Hyah!"

[@TundraMC]

Day is pronounced as '데이' in korean. Not '대'

[@marvindujardin463]

Hyundai often sounds pronounced like Honda in the USA.

[@dougn2350]

Hyundai is pronounced HUN-day

[@FFFFFFF-FFFFFFFUUUUCCCC]

Most accurate way to pronounce is Deh-ooh (read like American). Anyways I don't really care if they pronounce it wrong. "Day oo" would just be "대이우"

[@Curi0u50ne]

Each to their own, I heard a yank pronounce a jag as a jag-wire

[@catjudo1]

9:39 I'm glad the insects and arachnids chose such a slow car to ride on. If they had picked a Camaro or a Mustang, they would all have died gruesome deaths against the radiator, sucked into the vanes by the cooling fans. As for the grasshopper shielding the ant's eyes from the dragonfly impact, he should have covered the caterpillar's eyes instead as it was the juvenile. Just saying.

[@rjft7003]

Had one of those Sonics/Aveo. The insects would die with the smell of coolant, it was all-over the place and the cooling system was mediocre at best.

[@catjudo1]

@@rjft7003 Let me have one thing, just one single thing, in this cruel world that makes me smile, dammit! LOL!

[@GpLd]

So glad you made this video!!!!!!! We had the Vauxhall Astra in the UK and I was UTTERLY confused and bewildered as a child visiting the US in the 90s as to why there were so many lookalike Vauxhall Astras with various different wheel trims, logos and styling quirks! 🤣 When Daewoo finally landed in the UK with a rebranded “old” Astra I was done 🤯 Never realised there was such a Dark history to the company either - $80bn!!??

[@jeremiahallyn4603]

Oldsmobile Alero. I know you did Grand AM, but the Alero was the last Olds ever produced. I had an '02 Alero and drove that thing till the wheels basically fell off, lol.

[@milfordcivic6755]

So, you did make it to the first oil change! Congrats!

[@jeremiahallyn4603]

@@milfordcivic6755 huh? I had the car for 6 years and had no problems at all out of it. Put almost 160K miles on it before I sold it.

[@michaelmertin4018]

I had some Opel/Deawoos here in Australia.My Nice Still Drives a 96 Deawoos 1500.Put new Camshaft in 3 Years ago!Great Cars.

[@toupac3195]

I tell you what, as teen, my Le Mans handled muddin' surprisingly well. Otherwise it was a hunk of junk.

[@aspiceronni4462]

My buddies first car was a Pontiac LeMans GSE. We beat the brakes off that car. That car was a screamer. She would top out at 120 but at that speed the vibrations literally felt like the car was gonna break apart right underneath ya. Man I made some good memories in that car. Thanks for the video.

[@OVH_Schultz]

There were a lot of Daewoo factories in Europe and other neighbouring countries. We had one in Romania until 2008, when Ford came and took over. Funny enough, I have a Nubira 2 from 2002. Back in the day, Daewoo was the best alternative to a Dacia.

[@scottbogfoot]

No mention of Tank and his Deawoo from Madtv 😂

[@corvetcoyote443]

Oh yeah,the lime green one with the cheesy orange flames!

[@emptysoul4455]

His Daewoo had some great hydraulics

[@clydeferguson519]

A medical firm I worked for used the Pontiac (Daewoo) Lemans for delivery vehicles .I and 2 other drivers were involved in crashes where the brakes would fade, then lock up .

[@johnnymason3265]

The problem with the Leganza was that it never offered a six cylinder engine! It was supposed to but later on Suzuki offered one in the Verona!

[@calmdreamtv]

I saw chevy aveos when I worked as a wash guy at a chevy dealership as a 16-17 year old now at 30 I own a chevy spark EV which was only made as a compliance car for 3 model years 2014-2016 thank you for this video! Interesting to learn the history of Daewoo!

[@officialkevonn]

I haven’t seen a Honda prelude, Eagle and Daewoo in a long time.

[@jeffc1347]

I had a 2009 Aveo and it was a cheaply made POS but I made a lot of great memories with it. I had such an emotional bond with it that after I got in an accident I replaced it with a Sonic (made in Michigan but very similar) that sadly only made it 70,000 miles before everything starting falling apart, my wifes Sonic has over 70k and has never had anything break on it though.

[@sutherlandA1]

1:30 and 9:24 are Chevrolet 1700, a Korean copy of the Australian Holden LJ Torana

[@JayZx777]

I remember Dewoo in Poland, they had purchased FSO in 1995 and started to manufacture Daewoo Nexia, then Nubira and Lanos. As I recall Nexia was a rebadged Kadett, but they were decent cars vs Polish Polonez or Fiat. Nice video!

[@DansModelBench]

There was a Holden link too. For example the Daewoo Royale Prince had its body panels stamped in South Australia by Holden and were off the Holden Commodore, itself a heavily revised Opel with unique Australian motor and much suspension work to strengthen the car.

[@goclunker]

It was also available as a Le Mans in Canada my neighbor had two.

[@skylerroxasmidoriyatardisp2882]

The only Lanos I ever saw belonged to the vice principal of my elementary school. Never saw one anywhere else

[@LeblondMat]

Did you know that in Canada, we had also the Suzuki Swift in mid 2000 that was also a rebadge chevy Aveo/Pontiac Wave?

[@billyjack5957]

No that was actually a Suzuki built in Canada along with the Pontiac Firefly

[@LeblondMat]

@@billyjack5957 i dont talk about the 90´s version on the suzuki swift, i talk about the mid 2000 swift

[@Golzie1]

Not sure if it ever sold in the US, however Australian and European markets got the Espero before the Leganza. It was a sharp looking car, that used the GM J Platform.

[@PhantomLover007]

I had an 88 Lemans hatchback five speed and I absolutely loved that little car. From what a salesman had told me, it was Pontiac’s competition to them second generation Honda CRX. That little car had excellent gas mileage. Never really had any issues with the car. Had to replace the clutch one time, and then I cracked the head trying to drive 10 miles back to Napa auto parts store. But both of those were operator error. The GS model looked absolutely cool as hell to me. I was looking for one before I bought my 1990 sunbird. The sedan Lemans just looked plain as hell to me. I guess the hatchback made it look a little bit sporty here.

[@emkayusa]

We had a Le Mans (the Korean one) as a rental once, it couldn’t even drive from Victorville to Big Bear. It overheated, and we had to turn around. It was brand new.

[@jeffshadow2407]

In 1991 we had a customer who had won a great deal of money from the California Lottery. The couple bought a new LeMans from our Pontiac competitor down the street!

[@frisco-2.0]

I do still own a 1986 Opel Kadett E today. I love this car which is ultra reliable.

[@Where_is_Waldo]

I'm Canadian and I've never seen a Passport anything but I've seen the Pontiac Le Mans hatchback. Also, Asuna (emphasis on the second syllable) is a short lived Canadian brand which also marketed the Asuna Sunfire (on the same platform as the Isuzu Strom/Piazza, and Lotus Elan) and the Asuna Sunrunner (a rebadged Suzuki Escudo/Geo Tracker... although we also got the Geo Tracker).

[@jakeballard7999]

My Older Sisters first Car - straight off the showroom floor (Maxon Pontiac, Union NJ) 1988 Pontiac LeMans Se - White with black trim she named it Snoopy - That car had style - all her other friends had Hyundai's the Pontiac sure stood out from those during that time

[@Kacpa2]

Deawoo smallest model was Matiz sold in Europe it got a heavy facelift and was sold under Chevrolet brand in europe, together with other updates for Lanos - Lancetti and Leganza.

[@williamparker1644]

Bought an 08 Aveo last Feb with 70k original miles and a 5-speed manual. Very zippy. Zero problems so far.

[@watershed44]

*How many people remember that these Daewoo cars in the USA especially the small inexpensive ones were heavily pushed towards the college crowd and they often sponsored many events on campuses across the USA.*

[@neilmustow368]

We had it the UK as the Daewoo Nexia in 1995 to 1997 did have restyled front end and back end still looked like the Vauxhall Astra MK 2 which came out in 1984

[@tonycrusader777]

quickly becoming one of my fav channels i learn so much keep up the great work would love one on the olds delta series owned both a 88 and 98

[@donaldm2582]

Former 1989 Pontiac lemans owner here. Burned out 2 engines in my brief run lol. The stereo was worth more than the car.

[@MandusahRamirez]

Funny because a guy I went to school with got a Brand New Green 2002 Daewoo Leganza Fully Loaded in 2004 with only 10 Miles that had been sitting on the Suzuki Lot since 2001 and He still Dailies it with 302k now! It was also a Chevy Malibu too tho lol

[@padroooo]

I owned a few Buick Opel's from the late 60's. I do remember the Daewoo in the US but nothing of their foreign makers.

[@donaldw6049]

Yeah, I had the German built Opel, in the early 70’s. My girl friend bought one in ‘78. Must have been a Daewoo. I liked mine better

[@mikaelneault]

The Deawoo lacetti was in canada from 2004 to 2007 as a Chevrolet Optra. We had the 4-door Sedan, the hatchback and the station wagon

[@christianrogers5674]

In 2002, my brother-in-law was able to buy a brand new Daewoo Lanos for $1500. We called it the "Lame-os". That was about what I had paid for my 8-year-old, 100,000 mile Ford Thunderbird. Fortunately the Lanos was outlived by the T-bird on account of the Daewoo's engine deciding it no longer wanted to live after just 15,000 miles.

[@nobadhairdayzchase]

I don’t know if you’ve done this already but I’d love to see an episode on the Pontiac Grand Prix!! I once owned a 1996 Grand Prix GT and loved it!!

[@legorickdeckard229]

When I was a kid there was also a model called the Espero, which I guess you guys didn't get in North America. I can't speak for its reliability but I sure liked the way it looked. Since You're touching on Daewoo, you should make a video on the Samsung car, that'd be interersting.

[@k900-x1z]

I used to work for Daewoo France and we sold many Espero by the time ! It was a big car with a very low price and guaranteed 3 years ; no brands proposed that in the 1994 !

[@peters8758]

In January 2004 I rented a Chevy 4-door in Las Vegas that was alleged to be mid-size. I had paid extra to move a notch up from a Cavalier. The sedan they gave me bore some resemblance to a Malibu, but a few inches smaller. It had no model identification badge anywhere, it just said Chevrolet on the trunk lid and said made in Gunsan, Korea on the door plate sticker. What a gutless, uncomfortable, tinny shopping cart! I never saw another sedan like it, but I suspect it was a re-badged Suzuki Forenza (a.k.a. Daewoo J200 Lacetti) wearing a gold bow-tie as a disguise, possibly being test-marketed. What blows me away is that this crappy thing was the predecessor to my daughter's Chevy Cruze (a.k.a. Daewoo J300), which feels much more solid and can comfortably keep up with traffic. They really upped their game! I now drive a ten year newer 2014 Chevrolet Orlando made in Gunsan by GM Korea. The Orlando is a 7-passenger compact MPV (ie. looks like a Dodge Journey but 800 pounds lighter and never dies) based on the Chevy Cruze and adequately powered by a 2.4 litre Ecotec. Chevy never retailed the Orlando in the USA, possibly fearing it would clobber their more expensive 7-passenger Traverse on the sales floor.

[@jonrolston4909]

There was also the Chevrolet Epica, which was sold in Canada, and was essentially a replacement for the Leganza.

[@kingkatradio]

Yes! 0:44 I see my post. In Toledo Ohio, Taylor sold these for a brief while. Taylor has locations in NW Ohio selling Kia, Hyundai, Cadillac, and VW. A former co-worker of mine at the time had a Nubria Wagon back in the early 2000s. I have not seen a Daweoo in many years.

[@Henchman1977]

The Daewoo Lacetti did come to Canada as the a Chevy Optra, 4 door sedan or 5 door wagon.

[@ExUSSailor]

There was a Daewoo dealership in my area. I remember when they were going out of business, they had a Buy-One-Get-One-Free sale. Seriously, it was buy one car for $8995, get a second one free. They were desperate to clear out the stock, I guess, and, at least make back a little money.

[@thehalo121]

I have a 2006 Chevy Aveo that I bought with 70,000 miles on it for $1500, I drive the car 5 to 7 days a week in average between 120 and 180 miles per day. It’s nothing to write home about but it is pretty damn reliable, he has not left me stranded yet. It also gets between 25 and 27 miles to the gallon… Making it look cool is next to impossible but I have tried and I am documenting it on my KZbin channel.🤷‍♂️🤣

[@davidroberts2921]

There was a Chevrolet Optra 5 in Canada. And the car from Top Gear made it to Canada as a Chevrolet as well.

[@marcusothman3435]

Daewoo Lacetti was sold in the US as Suzuki Forenza and Suzuki Reno. In Canada it was sold as Chevrolet Optra.

[@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY]

Chevrolet Optra was sold in Japan by Suzuki, and import JDM Chevy Optra to New Zealand and some RHD countries.

[@dauntlessdom5926]

Wow! I didn’t realize so many GM vehicles were really Daewoo vehicles in disguise! My grandpa had a red Daewoo Lanos hatchback in red when I was a kid but it got in an accident

[@jessicarathbun2241]

There is a sign for a service department for the local Daewoo dealership still installed on the side of the dealership closest to me.

[@CoryAtRandom]

As always excellent video with tons of detail and info

[@bryanpalmer9660]

Bought a Daewoo lanos hatch years ago and found it ,overall,a good car,smooth engine with good fuel economy 💎 Auckland New Zealand 2024

[@calinescuandrei9662]

At 7:23 I think there's a mistake, since the smallest Daewoo car in 2002 was the Matiz. Other than that it's a very nice vid about one of the lesser talked about brands. I hope you'd do one on SAAB one day :) Cheers!

[@earlmacmullin4688]

I didn't see a mention of the GLORIOUS Chevrolet Epica & Suzuki Verona twins, which I believe were a rebadged Daewoo Magnus. I remember my mom was in the market for a new car when GM Canada introduced all these Korean models to Canada; we got the Aveo & Wave in sedan & hatch, the Chevrolet Optra sedan/wagon/Optra5, Epica and of course the Suzuki Verona & Swift+ . She somehow avoided all these and ended up with one of the last 'new' craptastic Cavaliers... What a time it was.

[@ssenssel]

The same 3 door hatchback model was sold here in Brazil as Chevrolet Kadett and I had one in 92, a basic model with 1.8L ethanol fueled. Used to love its style. Still do, but used to, too.

[@BILLGREYNPL]

The early opel platforms were so versitile as a design platform for foriegn subsidiaries of GM. So weird to see our (Australian) native Commodores and Toranas in these cars.

[@tentokratozajnetusim3160]

In 1988, before the revolution in Czechoslovakia, Daewoo cost a five-year average salary. Locally produced Škoda cars or the latest Lada model, or a Renault made in Romania, cost about two years' average salary. Fiat made in Poland or Trabant was for little over one year's average salary. Nothing was cheaper. After the revolution a few years later, an older Mercedes, perhaps 10 years old, could be imported from Germany for a six-month average salary, which was better than the Daewoo in every aspect.

[@MandusahRamirez]

We did get that Lacetti as Suzuki Forenza!

[@joshlewis5486]

The compact above the Chevy Aveo did make it to North America as a Suzuki

[@ratonbox]

Growing up in a city that had a Daewoo factory in Europe, I've seen every single model they've had for sale in Europe. It's funny how that specific factory ended up being bought by GMs competition: Ford and now makes the new Ford Puma and used to make the EcoSport and the Transit Connect.

[@FireAngelZero]

Plymouth Colt… my mom had one when I was growing up… 5 speed manual 2Door… wasn’t fast but it definitely got around tight spaces easily

[@spol1622]

Daewoo also was building cars in Poland with partnership of Polish government. After bankruptcy, all factories and assembly lines were closed in Poland. Cooperation with Daewoo was Polish attempt to revive its auto industry. After Daewoo debacle, they never really try hard to revive any brand of domestic cars...

[@johnnymason2460]

Did we forget about the Suzuki Forenza, Reno, and Verona? They were built by Daewoo as well! The Forenza was a redesigned Nubira! The Verona was a redesigned Leganza!

[@michaelfong5424]

Great video. As a suggestion for a future episode how about either the Toyota Tercel or Mazda Protege?

[@donaldwilson2620]

I had a 2002 Mazda Protege. It was a great car. Put over 200K miles on it and kept it for almost 10 years before I upgraded it to a Honda Accord which I also kept for a long time.

[@maz367]

The Daewoo Lacetti was sold in North America as the Suzuki Forenza (sedan/wagon) and Suzuki Reno (hatchback). In Canada it was the Chevrolet Optra. The G2X was not produced by Daewoo, it was a rebadged Saturn Sky imported to Korea from North America. The Beat was never sold as a three door anywhere. It has only ever been a five door. Also, the Leganza was replaced by the Magnus, which was sold as the Suzuki Verona in the U.S. and Chevrolet Epica in Canada.

[@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY]

G2X also called Opel GT in Europe.

[@turdgoblin6113]

Love this car! I had an 1991, but it was blue and awesome. I loved that car. Never had any real problems with it. Thing ran till about 196,000 miles. The only thing that I despised about it, it was a stupid damn manual!!

[@303nitzubishi4]

Had a brand new '21 Spark as a rental car a few weeks back. Excellent little car, night and day difference from my brothers Aveo. He got in a minor fender bender and it destroyed the transmission and electric harness. You could barely see the body damage but the car was totalled. He was glad to be rid of it

[@gene978]

I was a Proud Owner of the 1986 3cyl 2 Dr. 5 Spd.Chevy Sprint. 64MPG. I bought it used for a winter beater with 70K on it in very good condition. I liked driving it so much the next 3 years I drove it more then my 5.0 Mustang Rag Top and my 1963 Lincoln Continental. I always had the car full of people on the highway when it wasn’t full of people I had the rear seat down lugging groceries to my Breakfast Restaurant. My Best Friend said to me one day. “Gene, you Love this car!” I had to admit I did and didn’t realize itl I had satisfaction of being able to use 100% of the car that other cars that I could only use 50% of the cars engine. And I was rewarded by only paying $6 every other week for gas. Death Trap? Sure! But it was manuverable.

[@erikbunty2016]

It was touted as having over 31 standard features at the time. Was one of those "full carpeting"? I ask that because of the Yugo, which did that.

[@erikbunty2016]

I own a 2015 Kia Soul. I had a few recalls on it and some things needed fixing, of which my warranty, (which is unbeatable in my opinion) covered. It does, for some reason, use a lot of oil, but is good otherwise. One really nice thing about is its maneuverability in tight spaces.

[@Sys-Edit0r-1995]

7:12 man I distinctly remember this as when I was a kid!!!

[@NakulDalakoti]

sedan version of Daewoo Le Mans was called Daewoo Cielo here in India. It was later renamed as Daewoo Nexia. My Uncle owned one.

[@cameronjournal]

You should do an episode about the GMC Safari/Chevy Astro. That was my first car. It was useful bit kinda sucked, was expensive to fix and blew through two engines and died before 100K miles.

[@Michka1001]

I absolutely loved the Espero back in the day, imo they were one of the most attractive cars in the road. These days my partner ownes a 2014 Trax 1.8 petrol with a manual and I couldn't fault it. Owned since new and it's only ever needed a thermostat last year, currently sitting on about 125,000 - 130,000 Ks

[@kotkafis]

I now own a Daewoo Lanos 2008, made in Poland. This is the best car for the money, very reliable and cheap to maintain. The engine can easily travel 300,000 miles without repair. I live in Kiev, Ukraine.

[@DaewooFestiva23]

0:47 THATS ME!!! also at 4:53 I have that sales brochure!

[@danielboguse4249]

Suzuki had three dawoo cars in there line up. Verona, lanos, forenza.

[@gm12551]

I always seem to remember the Pontiac LeMans always broke down on the side of the road among the VW Fox and Mazda Protegé.

[@kippaseo8027]

Unfortunately you forgot to mention how GM re badged all those garbage Deawoo With the Suzuki name. The Suzuki Reno, Ferenza, and Verona We're just the redesigned versions of the Lanos, Nubira, and Laganza. They totally wrecked Suzuki's reputation here in the US and is the main reason why they were forced to pull out even though even though there they're SX4X4 and and kazashi were actually Very good little cars much like chlike the swift/metro from the 1990s. This video needs a part 2! Lol Love all the videos though so keep them coming