Sunday, March 26, 2006

GM-Daewoo Rolls Out the Seven-Seat Winstorm in South Korea

Date posted: 03-21-2006

SEOUL, South Korea — GM-Daewoo, which is known as Chevrolet in Europe, has rolled out the Winstorm, a badge-engineered version of the new Captiva SUV that was launched at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month.

Underlining the importance of the first Daewoo SUV developed under General Motors' guidance, GM CEO Rick Wagoner joined GM-Daewoo President and CEO Nick Reilly for a ceremony marking the occasion.

The new Winstorm was developed in two-and-a-half years and will be sold worldwide, spawning Daewoo, Chevrolet, Opel, Vauxhall and Saturn-badged variants. All models will be manufactured in Korea, so the company is now rehiring workers laid off by the bankrupt Daewoo company years ago and will run all plants in two shifts to meet expected demand.

The seven-seat Winstorm differs little from the Captiva, although the front treatment is more coherent. It will come equipped with a 2.0-liter common-rail direct-injection diesel engine.

What this means to you: General Motors hopes the Winstorm will add some sunshine to its worldwide sales forecast.

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