Holden pulls the plug on Daewoo

[fpv_gtho]

Holden pulls plug on Daewoo

02jun04

Holden yesterday killed off the Daewoo brand in Australia, announcing it would withdraw the Korean badge from the market by the end of this year.

The decision will cost 37 jobs at the Homebush headquarters of GM Daewoo Australia and force the closure of 110 Daewoo franchises around Australia with the certainty of further redundancies.
Holden gave assurances yesterday that all staff entitlements would be paid in full and the company would work with dealers to minimise the impact of the closures.

Of the dealerships, 39 also sell Holdens while most of the remainder are multi-franchise operations selling more than one brand. Holden said only "a couple" of the affected dealers were stand-alone Daewoo operations.

Holden assured owners of the 135,000 Daewoos on Australian roads that they would not be abandoned.

"All warranty obligations will be honoured and owners who have bought a Daewoo or will buy a Daewoo will not be disadvantaged," Holden's executive director for sales and marketing Ross McKenzie said.






He gave an assurance that spare parts and service would be available through selected Holden dealers for at least the next 10 years.

"This is not an announcement anyone is delighted to make, but I am certain the Holden board has made the right decision," Mr McKenzie said.

He said the decision was made after the realisation that the reputation and value of the Daewoo brand in Australia was more damaged than first thought.

"This is a matter of brand value and strength rather than a reflection on the products themselves," he said

[Falcon500]

Well i can say im not exactlysad to see them go....i wonder if holden will still be producing the engines which date back to the camira? if they dont then it would be a rather larghe blow to holdens funds they where makeing the engine world wide as far as i know.....
I must say though i feel sorry for the jobs lost espcially for the dealerships and unlike a proper buy out of a franchise where they could transfer to the new make there is no alternative offer available....and dealerships usually have more then a small handfull of people too the small mitsu dealer i was casual detailing at had a dealer princabel,accountant,salseman several mechanics and a full time detailer as well as the position em and a friend where occupying so that x35 for the stand alone and a handfull of people being retenched from each of the franchises will add up to around 300+ jobs...which sounds small but with unemployment the way it is now would not help anything....