February 20, 2004
General Motors has told its dealers they can resume sales of the entry-level Chevy Aveo, lifting a six-day stop-delivery notice on the little Daewoo.
Concerned about five crashes involving the tiny Korean import, GM told dealers a week ago they could take orders for the Aveo but shouldn't deliver any cars until the crashes had been investigated. GM said it determined the crashes were not related or tied to any defect in the Aveo.
"We investigated them and determined there was nothing on the Aveo that was a contributing cause of these crashes," GM spokesman Jim Schell said.
The Aveo is GM's attempt to compete with lower-priced foreign cars such as the Kia Rio and Toyota Echo. It has a starting price of about $10,000. The company sold 1,559 Aveos in January.
GM bought expensive advertisements during the Super Bowl to publicize the Aveo and hopes to sell 50,000 to 70,000 of them a year.
The Aveo is built in South Korean by GM Daewoo Automotive & Technology Co. In 2002, GM bought the assets of Daewoo Motor Co., the bankrupt South Korean carmaker. Japan's Suzuki is a co-investor and is helping to run the operation.
