18 Oct 01:58

MELBOURNE (Dow Jones)--General Motors Corp. (GM) is looking for a quick turnaround from newly formed GM Daewoo Automotive & Technology Co., with a recovery in Daewoo's market share in South Korea a key focus, Peter Hanenberger, the head of GM's Australian unit Holden Ltd., said Friday.

Holden is GM's shareholder in GM Daewoo, and Hanenberger is a director of the new company.

"We'd like to see this company turning around very quickly," Hanenberger told reporters during a telephone conference call.

Recovering Daewoo's market share in South Korea will be a "key ingredient" of the new company's success, he said.

He noted that Daewoo's market share in Korea has fallen to around 10%, but that GM Daewoo Chief Executive Nick Reilly will be aiming to restore that to around 20%.

"With the restructure and the product we have in the pipeline, I believe we can recover this market fairly quickly," Hanenberger said.

Hanenberger blamed the slide in market share on previous uncertainty over Daewoo's future, adding that Daewoo still has a reputation as a reliable and good product.

GM, through Holden, has a 44.6% stake in GM Daewoo, and is partnered by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp. (J.SUZ) with a 14.9% stake and China's Shanghai Automotive Industries Corp. with 10.6%. Daewoo Motor's (Q.DMT) creditors hold 29.9%.

(MORE) DOW JONES NEWS 10-18-02 01:58 AM

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