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Daewoo is one of the prominent names in the automobile industry. The company got its name from its founder name Kin Woo-Jung who founded the Daewoo Group in the year 1967. In the initial phase, the company focussed on labor clothing and textile. This became possible as the new government in South Korea boosted access to resources for the companies and Daewoo took benefit from this. Between 1973 and 1981, the country’s labor force was in high demand and competition from other countries elevated. While responding to this, the government focussed on shipbuilding, petrochemicals, etc. By the end of this period, Daewoo entered into shipbuilding and gained a reputation in that domain.

In the next ten years, the government loosened import barriers and encouraged small businesses. This made Daewoo collaborate with the US and Europe companies and hike in export products like machine tools, defense products, manufacturing, etc. It was during this period only when Daewoo reached various relevant landmarks in the automotive domain. Daewoo was ranked as the seventh-highest car exporter and the sixth-highest carmaker in the world. Daewoo also dealt with manufacturing consumer electronics, communication equipment, building materials, etc.

Although Daewoo had 20 divisions, the Daewoo motor brand came to light in 1995 in the United Kingdom. The Asian financial crisis of 1997 led to heavy losses to the Korean government due to which Daewoo also faced financial troubles. Despite the crisis in 1997 and 1998, Daewoo increased its subsidiaries count to 289 and took more debt. This led Daewoo in an extremely dark stage of its business which came in 1999 when it went bankrupt. Daewoo had a debt of fifty billion U.S dollars and also had a market in about one hundred countries.

Soon after this, the founder of the company escaped to Vietnam and he was declared wanted in the country. Mr. Kim was arrested when he made his way back to the country in 2005 as he was involved in fraud and misappropriation of funds. This led him to the imprisonment of around ten years. Daewoo brand was called as GM Korea in South Korea and Chevrolet in Europe at the inception of the year 2005. Further, it was changed to Chevrolet in South Korea too. Tata Motors acquired the commercial vehicle manufacturing division of Daewoo. Daewoo exists as a trusted automotive brand today in the market in collaboration with TATA Motors.