General Motors Corporation has been announced several recalls this year. Most of the GM vehicles called for recall in the US car market were found to have faulty car parts -- prompting government agencies like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTHSA) and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) to ask automakers like GM (maker of GMC egr valve) to conduct recalls on their malfunctioning vehicles.
Just recently, the General Motors Daewoo Auto & Technology Company based in South Korea was reported to have received a warning from South Korea's state-run consumer protection agency because of growing complaints over malfunctioning parts found in its Captiva Sport Utility Vehicle.
According to the Korea Consumer Agency, these cars were found to be dangerous because of the unidentified flaws found on the GM Daewoo's Captiva SUVs. The car is being sold in South Korea under the name of Winstorm. Officials are worried that if these car problems are not fixed, it will cause accidents and in worst cases, maybe even death.
"Though no exact reason has been identified so far for such defects in the engine area, it could undermine a consumer's driving safety," said the agency.
According to the news, the car problem can also be causes of major engine problems like power loss which will result to the reduction of speed when the driver speeds into the accelerator.
No injuries or death has been reported. However, several complaints were received coming from customers about an unexplainable change of speed in the car.
The General Motor Daewoo Officers did not make any comment about this matter.
General Motor Daewoo Corporation is the third largest car maker in South Korea, and is a joint venture of General Motors Corporation and Daewoo Motors. General Motors Daewoo is also on among the distributors of vehicles of GM worldwide. Almost 10% of the cars produced by General Motors are made in GM Daewoo. The most famous car brand made under the corporation is the Winstorm SUV which shares its platform from the current Chevrolet Captiva in the US car market.
It was announced earlier by the third-largest Korean automaker that GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co. will serve as its developer of the mini car architecture for the global network.
"The new mini car platforms (those fitted with 1-liter or smaller engines) developed here in Korea will be manufactured and sold in many mature and emerging markets," says Michael Grimaldi, the new president and chief executive of GM Daewoo Auto & Technology. Grimaldi held his very first press conference at the Bupyeong plant in Seoul, Korea. He is the successor to Nick Reilly. The latter was promoted to lead the operation of General Motors in Asia-Pacific.
However, Grimaldi did not divulge any specifics on the allotted budget and manpower needed for the accomplishment of the mini car development center. Instead, he said that the next generation of vehicles will reach markets across the Asia- Pacific region and Europe within three to five years.
"Small and mini-vehicles continue to play important roles because of escalating fuel fees. Business from the future mini cars may help propel the U.S. carmaker's global market share beyond 10 percent; it is now 5 percent," added the American-born president of the company.
Based on the report of the automaker, GM mini cars including Matiz and Agila have a total of 4 million units sold around the globe. With the new architectural platform of automaker, it is expected that GM parts will be enhanced further to boost the performance and style of its vehicles.
Grimaldi also expressed the GM Daewoo's aim to overtake Kia Motors. The latter is currently holding the top 2 spot in the Korean automotive market. Grimaldi noted, "If asked I am pleased with the results GM Daewoo has created so far, I would say yes. But if asked if I am content, my answer will be an equally strong no."
As an initial step to make the goal prosper, GM Daewoo will be releasing new entries which include medium and large luxury vehicles. In addition, the automaker is also expected to reach the 1.5 million target sales for this year. Next year, it will be aiming to gain 1.8 million sales.
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