Tata rounds up Daewoo truck deal

GUNSAN (South Korea): Tata groupflagship firm Tata Motors on Monday completed the acquisition of troubled SouthKorean firm Daewoo''s truck making unit for $102 million.The deal wascompleted with Tata Motors chairman Ratan Tata receiving newly allotted sharesfrom president and receiver of Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Company (DWCV) Kwang-OkChae at its factory premises in Gunsan."Our commitment is to makethis unit extremely profitable and to make it a major player, domestically andglobally," Tata said. Though Tata was not forthcoming on the group''splans on entering China, he indicated that a lot will depend on the firm''sKorean experience.DWCV controls about 25 per cent of the SouthKorean heavy truck market. The firm now plans to introduce medium trucks toincrease its visibility in the market.Tata also sought to allayfears of DWCV employees, saying: "Tata Motors has also gone through difficulttimes as you have, and understands the hardship you have gonethrough."His remark drew enthusiastic applause from the 600-oddemployees of the plant, which has an annual production capacity of 20,000 mediumand heavy vehicles. But for Tata Motors, the sixth largestcommercial vehicle manufacturer in the world, the "real success of acquisitionwill come from what we donext."()