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Daewoo ( ; ; ; ; "great universe" and a portmanteau of " dae" meaning great, and the given name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-choong) also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean chaebol (type of conglomerate) and automobile manufacturer.
It was founded on 22 March 1967 as Daewoo Industrial and was declared bankrupt on 1 November 1999, with debts of about US$50 billion (equivalent to $ billion in ). Prior to the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Daewoo was the third largest conglomerate in South Korea, behind the Hyundai Group and LG Corporation (later became LG Corporation). There were about 20 divisions under the Daewoo Group, some of which survived as independent companies.
During the 1960s, after the end of the Syngman Rhee government, the new government of Park Chung Hee intervened to promote growth and development in the country. It increased access to resources, promoted exports, financed industrialization, and provided protection from competition to the chaebol in exchange for a company's political support. In the beginning, the Korean government instigated a series of five-year plans under which the chaebol were required to achieve a number of basic objectives.
Daewoo did not become a major player until the second five-year plan. Daewoo benefited from government-sponsored cheap loans based on potential export profits. The company initially concentrated on labor-intensive clothing and textile industries that provided high profit margins because of South Korea's large and relatively inexpensive workforce.
The third and fourth of the five-year plans occurred from 1973 to 1981. During this period, the country's labor force was in high demand. Competition from other countries began eroding South Korea's competitive edge. The government responded to this change by concentrating its efforts on mechanical and electrical engineering, shipbuilding, petrochemicals, construction, and military initiatives. At the end of this period, the government forced Daewoo into shipbuilding. Kim was reluctant to enter this industry, but Daewoo soon earned a reputation for producing competitively priced ships and oil rigs.
During the next decade, the Korean government became more liberal in its economic policies. Small private companies were encouraged, protectionist import restrictions were loosened, and the government reduced positive discrimination (affirmative action), to encourage free market trade and to force the chaebol to be more aggressive abroad. Daewoo responded by establishing a number of joint ventures with U.S. and European companies. It expanded exports of machine tools, defense products (under the S&T Daewoo company), aerospace interests, and semiconductor design and manufacturing. Eventually, it began to build civilian helicopters and airplanes, priced considerably cheaper than those produced by its U.S. counterparts. It also expanded efforts in the automotive industry and was ranked as the seventh largest car exporter and the sixth largest car manufacturer in the world. Throughout this period, Daewoo experienced great success at turning around faltering companies in South Korea.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, the Daewoo Group also produced consumer electronics, computers, telecommunications products, construction equipment, buildings, and musical instruments.
In 1998, when the impact of the foreign exchange crisis forced most of the chaebol to cut back, Daewoo added 14 new firms to its existing 275 subsidiaries, in a year where the group lost a total of on sales of . At the end of 1997, South Korea's fourth-largest chaebol had a debt of nearly five times their equity. While Samsung and LG Corp cut back in the midst of the economic crisis, Daewoo took on 40% more debt.
By 1999, Daewoo, the second largest conglomerate in South Korea with interests in about 100 countries, went bankrupt, with debts of about US$50 billion (equivalent to $ billion in ).
Soon after the demise, Kim Woo-choong fled to Vietnam, and former Daewoo factory workers put up with his picture. Kim returned to Korea in June 2005 and was promptly arrested. He was charged with masterminding accounting fraud of 41 trillion won (US$43.4 billion), illegally borrowing 9.8 trillion won (US$10.3 billion), and smuggling US$3.2 billion out of the country, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency. On 30 May 2006, Kim was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of fraud and embezzlement. On the last day of the trial, Kim tearfully addressed the court, "I cannot dodge my responsibility of wrongly buttoning up the final button of fate."
Daewoo Electronics survives to this day, despite bankruptcy, with a new brand logo "DE", but many of the other subsidiaries and divisions have become independent or simply perished. In North America, Target stores market Daewoo Electronics products under their "Trutech" brand on an ODM basis.
In 2004, General Motors pulled the Daewoo Motors brand of vehicles out of Australia and New Zealand, citing irreparable brand damage. Later that same year, GM announced that Daewoo Motors in Europe would be Rebadging as Chevrolet on 1 January 2005. In 2005, it was announced that Daewoo cars would have a Holden badge in Australia and New Zealand. In South Africa, Thailand, and the Middle East, Daewoo models were already branded Chevrolet. In South Korea, Daewoo was renamed GM Korea.
As part of the company reorganization, the content and the structure of its brand portfolio (its brand architecture) was reorganized. In 2011, GM discontinued the Daewoo brand name in South Korea and Vietnam and replaced it with the Chevrolet brand. The brand stayed used by GM in various CIS countries where it had a strong presence such as Belarus, Tajikistan, Moldova, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan until the mid-2010s. It was progressively phased out and replaced by Chevrolet or UzAuto Motors.
The Daewoo commercial vehicle manufacturer was taken over by Tata Motors.
A further subsidiary was the Daewoo Development Company, funded by cash from the Group and set up to develop hotels. Seven were built in South Korea, China, Vietnam, and Africa. They were personally designed and furnished by Kim Woo-jung's socialite wife Heeja, who was chairwoman of the company. The most lavish is the 5-star Hanoi Daewoo Hotel, which cost US$163 million to build in 1996 and was decorated by Heeja with fine art, porcelain, sculptures, and marble. She invited 3,000 guests to the opening, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kim is believed to have spent time there while "on the run".
The Daewoo Motor brand appeared in the United Kingdom in 1995. At the time, it was the only manufacturer not using traditional dealerships – it owned and operated its own retail network. It was once considered to be among the top 10 motor companies in terms of production.
Due to financial trouble, Daewoo's automotive arm, Daewoo Motors, was sold to General Motors (Korean) in 2001. The Daewoo nameplate continued in South Korea and Vietnam until 2011. The former Daewoo facilities are now producing General Motors vehicles for Asian markets.
Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Division was sold to Tata Motors.
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