Federal court
GM won a ruling to move the case to federal bankruptcy court in California, but Daniel E. Myers, a partner in the Tallahassee law firm, said he did not think that would slow down the judicial process. In addition, his firm filed a separate class-action suit against GM in mid-August, in US District Court in Orlando.
Complicating the issue is what GM will do with cars from Daewoo factories it is acquiring. With GM's backing, the new entity will continue to sell Daewoo-brand cars in Korea and elsewhere in Asia. And it plans to sell Daewoos in Latin America -- probably relabeled as Chevrolets, a name that is well established there.
Simonetti said GM had a team examining which Daewoo models might come to the US. It is clear that those cars will carry the badges of existing GM brands, a strategy that upsets owners and dealers, because GM might sell cars here as Pontiacs or Chevys that are known in other countries as Daewoos -- avoiding what the dealers see as GM's responsibility to them and their customers.
In the headquarters of Daewoo Motor America in Compton, Calif., a skeleton staff waits to see what will happen. Before the plant shutdowns last week, Ben Rainwater, vice president for parts and service, said some parts had begun to arrive. "I don't think the Daewoo customer is going to be abandoned," he said. But some customers and dealers are afraid that is precisely what will happen.
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