General Motors Corp. officially launched its new compact car in South Korea on Wednesday, marking the ailing U.S. auto giant’s first model developed as part of a shift to more fuel-efficient vehicles.
The Chevrolet Cruze, which began full-scale production at a plant of GM’s subsidiary in South Korea last month, will hit showrooms in the Korean market in mid-November before launches in Europe in early 2009 and in the United States in 2010.
The Cruze, equipped with a 1.6-liter, gasoline engine that produces 140 horsepower at its peak, will be sold in South Korea as the Lacetti Premiere.
GM unveiled the new car this month at the Paris Motor Show for the first time.
“Working together with GM’s global design and engineering teams has resulted in a vehicle that is destined to be a global benchmark and a sales winner,” said Michael Grimaldi, chief executive officer of GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co., referring to the Cruze.
“The Lacetti Premiere is the first member of the next generation of segment-leading products for GM Daewoo,” Grimaldi said in a press conference on South Korea’s southern resort island of Jeju.
GM Daewoo is the South Korean unit of GM of the United States. The company said it took 27 months to develop the Cruze, without saying how much it spent.
The four-door, coupe-like Cruze offers more interior space and a stronger on-road presence.
The Cruze was priced from 11.15 million won (US$7,600) to 16.5 million won in South Korea, depending on accessories. Prices for other markets weren’t revealed.
The car is built at the GM Daewoo plant in Gunsan, a port city 247 kilometers southwest of Seoul.
Park Hae-ho, a spokesman at GM Daewoo, said the Cruze will go on sale in South Korea for the first time in the world because GM Daewoo has produced the car.
0 comments ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.
Leave a Comment