GM Daewoo downturn

HOLDEN’S South Korean affiliate GM Daewoo Auto & Technology (GMDAT) expects its sales growth to fall from 38 per cent YTD to 12.5 per cent in 2007 as the impact of new-vehicle launches such as the Captiva SUV wears off, according to GMDAT’s new chief executive Michael Grimaldi.

Quoted in a Reuters report last week, Mr Grimaldi said 2007 sales were forecast to rise to 1.7-1.8 million – mainly on the back of exports to destinations such as Australia – from a 2006 target of 1.6 million.

He also reportedly said GM Daewoo would reach two million annual sales in the "near future" but declined to elaborate. More than 90 per cent of the company’s vehicles are exported.