GM Daewoo to Begin Construction of Euro 4 Diesels

18 November 2005

Yonhap. GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co., the third-largest carmaker in South Korea, said Friday it will start mass production next March of diesel engines that meet the Euro 4 emission standards.

A subsidiary of Geneal Motors, and the manufacturer of the successful Matiz (Spark), GM Daewoo began pilot production of Euro 4 diesel engines in September at its new plant in Gunsan, a port city southwest of Seoul.

The company plans to install the new diesels in a sport utility vehicle slated to debut early next year. Those engines will also be installed in vehicles for export.

The automaker invested 475 billion won (US$402.5 million) in the Gunsan plant. In March 2004, GM Daewoo signed a technology cooperation pact with Italian diesel engine developer VM Motori to develop the diesel engine.

VM Motori also provides the engine for the diesel Jeep Liberty CRD. (Earlier post.) VM Motori is owned in part by Detroit Diesel, a DaimlerChrysler company. VM has been supplying the Chrysler Group diesel engines since 1992 for minivans and Jeep products sold in Europe.