History

While Daewoo is somehow regarded as a fairly recent car brand, it is important to note that the parent company named Daewoo was established in 1967. However, it did not involve automobiles at the time. For the purpose of this website, let's look at what made Daewoo enter the automobile sector in 1978.

The company's roots for automobiles can be found in National Motors, which was founded in Bupyeong-gu, Incheon, South Korea, in 1937. In November 1962, "Saenara Motor" became the new name of that company.

Saenara (1962-1965)

Following the announcement of the vehicle Industry Promotion Policy by the South Korean government in 1962, Saenara, the country's first vehicle firm, was founded with state-of-the-art assembly facilities to produce the Datsun 310 Bluebird. Details of if the cars were produced under licence and/or with SKD/CKD kits, as well as exact dates or production are unknown. Wikipedia mention that the firm produced/sold the Bluebird with the Saenara name from July 1962 to November 1963 and then was produced/sold with the Shinjin name brand from November 1963 to August 1965.
However, certains sources mention that the firm was bought out by the Shinjin Industrial company only in 1965.

Shinjin (1965-1972)

Shinjin Industrial named the automative division Shinjin Motors and established joint-ventures with Toyota to produce some of their models.
Several Toyota models, including the Publica, T40 Corona, and Crown, were part of Shinjin's lineup.
Following Toyota's withdrawal in 1972, Shinjin Motor entered a joint venture with General Motors and then sold cars under the brand "GM Korea" or GMK.

GMK (1972-1976) & Saehan (1976-1982)

A number of models originating from General Motors were produced/sold under the GM Korea name or the Chevrolet brand name.
However, shortly after Shinjin entered the partnership with GM, the american company expressed dissatisfaction with Shinjin's leadership, and in 1976 requested that the Korean government, via the US Embassy in Seoul, find them a new partner company. The Korea Development Bank purchased the Shinjin Group's GMK shares due to Shinjin's financial difficulties. At that point, Saehan Motor Company Ltd. became the new name of the business.

The firm produced the Chevrolet 1700 (November 1972 – April 1976) was a rebadged Holden Torana (LJ) which continued under the Saehan brand as the Saehan Camina (April 1976 – November 1977). A wagon version of the same car, exclusive to the South Korean market was sold as the GMK Caravan (1972-1976) and then the Saehan Caravan (April 1976 – March 1979).
Unfortunately, as of now, collector Baek Joong-gil's yellow taxi in the Kumho Classic Car collection is the only known surviving example of a Chevrolet 1700.

The GMK Rekord, a rebadged Opel Rekord was also sold in South Korea by the firm during the period starting in 1972. It is unknwon if the model was sold after 1976.

From 1977, the Isuzu Gemini was produced by Saehan and sold as the Saehan Gemini. It then was renamed Saehan Maepsy in 1982 following some model updates. In 1983, the Saehan brand name was replaced by the Daewoo brand which had acquired the firm in 1978.

Saehan acquisition by Daewoo

The Daewoo Group acquired the Saehan car manufacturer in 1978 and continued with the same models.

Acqusition by GM

Commercial division

Go back to the top

Cars

- Hide Cars section

To see the complete list of "Alpha 3" country codes used in these pages to specify the market in which the model was sold, please visit the following website :
https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/country_code_list.htm
(We added (EUR) for Europe, (NAM) for North America, (SAM) for South America and (GCC) for Gulf Cooperation Council)