Dealing with costs is an unpleasant constant of every company’s operations, but generates the interesting paradox of making each of them do it in a different way. Brazilian automakers, for instance, have started to invest on economies of scale in order to offer modern vehicles without charging too much. The Europeans use additional brands for that, whose entire structure is created with that concern. Smaller markets, however, can only rely on keep selling older cars to achieve competitive prices. Just like this Uzbek release.
General Motors must have been the biggest user of badge engineering ever known, when it comes to cars. All North-American automakers have actually became famous for that, specially during the 1980s and the 1990s, but Chrysler’s badging operations were concentrated on that country and Ford’s have never been too many. GM, on the other hand, has created market strategies involving from Asian to Latin markets, selling some vehicles under several marques and some of them even with more than one name. This article’s sedan has been produced in a dozen countries, each one in a different period, and some of them also in hatchback and/or station wagon. Just so you have some reference: Buick: Excelle; Chevrolet: Estate, Lacetti, Nubira and Optra; Daewoo: Lacetti and Nubira; Holden: Viva; Suzuki: Forenza and Reno. Some of them added particular suffixes for some bodies, such as Excelle HRV and Lacetti5 (hatchbacks) and Optra Magnum (sedan) and XL (wagon). This project is still on the original generation (so far), but with the hatchback using different front design, which some years later was extended to the sedan. Confusing, right? Well, it hasn’t ended yet.
The latter sedan is what Uzbek Daewoo has rebadged for itself, this time. But before asking yourself “how hard would it be to only repeat one of all those names?”, an even more curious fact is that the automaker didn’t just create another new one. Some markets have been selling a Daewoo Gentra since 2002, but this one is a rebadged… Chevrolet Aveo. Which also has a big list of brands and names around the world itself. After knowing all that, it even stops being weird to notice that the Uzbek Gentra will be sold alongside with a Chevrolet Lacetti which is the previous phase of the same car, in some Eastern European markets. This vehicle was originally projected for the midsize categories, but Daewoo’s intention on taking an eleven-years-old project is to offer more for less. Gentra’s initial price of 399,000 rubles enable it to compete with rivals such as Hyundai Solaris (also known as Accent and Verna), Kia Rio, Renault Sandero and VW Polo. The equipment list follows that category’s standards, like front airbags, ABS brakes, climate control, sunroof and sound system. This car will use a four-cylinder 1.5L engine, which generates 105 hp and can be paired to automatic or manual transmission, being able to meet Euro 5 standards and perform an average consumption of 9 l/100 km.
Note: Since the article’s car doesn’t have many official pictures, the animated image presents the youngest Chevrolet Optra’s photos, whose biggest differences for Gentra are related to the badge-engineering process.
