Daewoo Upbeat On Car Investment

Daewoo, the South Korean industrial conglomerate, on Wednesday sought to allay fears about its commitment to a $1.5bn investment programme in Polands car industry. Jin Chul Suk, Daewoo managing director at its FSO plant in Warsaw, said yesterday: We may even be investing more. Suk was attempting to dispel concerns that the crisis in South Korea would lead to a reduction of Daewoos motor industry investments abroad. He said Daewoos investment plans for the motor industry remained a top priority for the company. Suk said it was too early to say how talks on co-operation between Daewoo and General Motors would affect the companies in Poland, where both have important investment programmes. The FSO plant is Daewoos flagship investment in Poland. The Korean company has already spent $830m on developing production capacity from about 120,000 vehicles at the beginning of the 1990s to a planned 350,000 by the end of the decade. This year Daewoo will spend a further $360m on plant and buildings at FSO. It is also developing a delivery van plant in Lublin in eastern Poland. Daewoo is in direct competition in Poland with Fiat of Italy and Opel, General Motors German subsidiary. Sales in the country totalled about 480,000 vehicles last year, making it Europes second fastest growing market.