In 1995, Daewoo - "the biggest car company you've never heard of" - entered the U.K. market with the first truly alternative way to buy a car.

Daewoo landed in Britain with a realistic target of gaining 1% market share within a year. Something of a Korean Saturn, Daewoo emphasized a low-hassle shopping experience at its new "sales centers." You got the market price for your trade-in vehicle, and you paid the list price for your Daewoo.

Despite the fact that the cars Daewoo was flogging - the Nexia and the Espero - were 1980s Opel/ Vauxhall Astras and Cavaliers "wearing a bit of tinsel," as Top Gear put it, Daewoo achieved its 1% market share within the first month.

Fundamentally, customers did not care about how well the cars drove. "If you're getting out of a 6-year-old Sierra into a brand new Daewoo, it feels like a little BMW," one customer told BBC Top Gear's Quentin Wilson in 1997.

Fleet companies who took the plunge seemed pleased, thanks to their high degree of standard equipment, and ease of servicing.

Daewoo's key attribute was peace of mind. "Owning your car will be as relaxing as driving it; stress relief as standard - that'll be the Daewoo," ran the ads.

As well as free delivery, number plates, and road tax, you got a 60,000-mile/ 3-year warranty; free collection and delivery for servicing (which was subcontracted to the Halford's chain); AA cover; a guaranteed courtesy car should you ever need it, and - most importantly - 3 years of parts and servicing cover.

In its ads, Daewoo portrayed dealers as sharks, which brought on the wrath of trade associations, and even got the company thrown out of the Northampton motor show. One dealer group ran a counter ad saying that it would not take Daewoos in on part exchange. This hardly helped resale values.

In 1997, Daewoo launched three new cars: the Lanos, the Nubira, and the Leganza, all breathed on by Giorgetto Giugiaro. But it was not until 1998 that a Daewoo fired the imagination: the Matiz.

More than a decade later, the Matiz was still on sale - as the Chevrolet Spark.

In 2000, Daewoo Motor collapsed. Many of the Korean automaker's assets were purchased by GM in late 2002. The GM Daewoo (GMDAT) unit currently functions as a hub for General Motors' global small-car development. In time, Daewoos were rebadged as Chevrolets.


In the Summer of 2000, Ford proposed a $6.9 billion offer to acquire the bankrupt South Korean automaker. Yet it pulled out a few months later, and GM bought a controlling interest in Daewoo for $400 million.