| [ car ] in KIDS 글 쓴 이(By): hanaro () 날 짜 (Date): 1994년08월31일(수) 02시43분06초 KDT 제 목(Title): DAEWOO INVASION KOREA'S second invasion of the Australian new-car market hits the beaches next week in the shape of a three-model range of the Daewoo 1.5i. To be the subject of a $35 million investment as the giant corporation tries to do in three years what took Hyundai seven, the Daewoo (pronounced Day-woo :) starts at $14,000 for the three-door hatch, with the five-door and the four-door sedan priced at A$16,000. The company is openly scornful about the traditional "$999" price tagging. This aims the car right at the jugular of rivals in the red-hot small car market - Holden's Barina, the Ford Festiva(aka Kia Pride), Mazda 121, Suzuki Swift and Daihatsu Charade. However, the Daewoo starts with the advantage of 1.5-litre engine and three body styles, where the others mostly run 1.3 to 1.4-litre hearts and only the Swift has three models. This is a bold move by Daewoo Automotive Australia, a 50-50 joint venture between the parent corporation, ranked 41st on 'Fortune' magazine's ladder of the world's top companies, and the Indonesian Mercedes-Benz distributor, the Starsurya Group. It's even cheekier because the car they're starting with is the old Opel Kadett from the mid-1980s, upgraded and modernised, and it will be replaced next March by an all-new model called the Cielo. The 1.5 is Daewoo's own multi-=point fuel-injected single-cam engine, matched to a five-speed manual or old three-speed General Motors Turbo-Hydramatic transmission - and it's front-wheel drive, of course. It develops 57.5 kilowatts and 127.5 Newton-metres of torque; comparable figures are: Barina, 1.4 sohc(44/103), Festiva, 1.3 sohc(47/102), Mazda, 1.3 sohc(54/106) and Charade 1.3 sohc(61/105). Suspension is by conventional MacPherson struts at the front, with the rear a typically Opel setup of semi-independent compound link by trailing arms and torsion bar. Steering is manual on the three-door, power on the other two, while the brakes, as you'd expect on a car weighing only 940 to 970 kilograms, are disc front, drum rear. The front seat belts are height-adjustable, there are three child restraint mounts in the hatches instead of the usual two, with the rear seat splilt-folding 60/40 on the hatches and fixed on the sedan. Warranty is three years/100,000 kilometres, the same as with Subaru. It's a pretty good-valule package and that's how Daewoo will be flogging it. It will also be pushing the interior package size - it's claiming the boot will swallow four full sets of golf clubs. But watch for the two television commercials, due to start running next Wednesday. They are both clever, but the one with the cattle dog is a smile-making beauty. There are 62 new Daewoo dealers nationally. In Melbourne they are at Dandenong, Glen Waverley, Moonee Ponds, Moorabbin, ..... From 'THE AGE' 26 Aug. 1994 Noil is short, sliver is long. :) _--_|\ Think globally, act locally. / \ \_.--.,/ 좋은 하루 보내시길..... v |