Aim Higher: GM Daewoo reportedly suing TagAZ over fears they are planning to copy the Lacetti
In what looks like a serious-but-probably-the-norm case of industrial espionage, General Motors' South Korean Daewoo division is reportedly alleging that the Russian automaker TagAZ has tried to copy its Lacetti sedan. Backing up those allegations are the arrests of two TagAZ engineers – former Daewoo employees who are said to have taken computer files from one company to the other. A third former Daewoo employee, an executive, left notes proclaiming his innocence and then committed suicide.
The two engineers reportedly copied at least 6,000 documents outlining designs and key technologies used in the Lacetti. That information, according to Daewoo, was used by TagAZ in the creation of a car it launched this past summer in Russia. South Korean prosecutors are still investigating the case, after which Daewoo will decide if it wants to pursue the matter for criminal damages. TagAZ hasn't said anything in response to the allegations. If nothing else, this could be good practice for GM – it will now know what to do if it happens at Opel...
[Source: Drive.com.au]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Xa 5:36PM (9/23/2009)
lol. were those two employees named nigel stepney and mike coughlan?
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StinkyPete 5:48PM (9/23/2009)
Another case of actions speaking louder than words...
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John 5:58PM (9/23/2009)
Who would care to copy a Daewoo?
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Tony 6:11PM (9/23/2009)
That comment makes me laugh chuckle until you realize what kind of cars they have is Russia. BTW the Lacetti will eventually be sold in the US as our Chevrolet Cruze, so its kind of a big deal to GM.
Danimal 6:12PM (9/23/2009)
The Lacetti is based on a platform that GM plans to use all over the world, a platform that works in every continent is a very valuable thing. Especially to companies that don't have anything close to such a chassis like TagAZ
Simonsays 6:18PM (9/23/2009)
you mean who would DARE copy a Daewoooooo
Ed 6:00PM (9/23/2009)
"left notes proclaiming his innocence and then committed suicide"
"innocence", right.
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Franz 6:09PM (9/23/2009)
LOL! If I'd seen your comment I wouldn't have bothered to post mine. ;)
Franz 6:08PM (9/23/2009)
"A third former Daewoo employee, an executive, left notes proclaiming his innocence and then committed suicide."
Because nothing conveys innocence more than a suicide...
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Rich 8:29PM (9/23/2009)
You're obviously not from round those parts.
chilipepper 6:10PM (9/23/2009)
I think Mazda has a case against GM Daewoo.
Put a smiley face on that car and you have the Mazda 3.
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Danimal 6:19PM (9/23/2009)
The front of the American version of that car is actually quite the opposite of that smiley Mazda 3...
http://www.gotbroken.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/2009-chevrolet-cruze-front-view-588x422.jpg
jsjs 11:29PM (9/23/2009)
As for the "smiling guppy" face, Peugeot has a case against Mazda, since it has appeared in Peugeot models for some years.
Jimbo 8:20AM (11/16/2009)
Doesn't look like the Mazda 3 at all. Unless you count 4 doors and 4 wheels as looking the same. If that's the case, it resembles a Hummer H3T as well.
jason.d.geary 6:17PM (9/23/2009)
subaru legacy???
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Mikhail V 6:48PM (9/23/2009)
Okay, so the whole post is a ripoff with nary an attempt of even the most basic investigation.
Here is a quick one for you, go to the website of the company:
http://www.tagaz.ru/about/
For lazy people, the right hand corner up top has Hyundai's logo plastered for all to see. Doesn't that make the story that much more interesting than copy/pasting? And if that was not enough, TagAZ has produced cars under Daewoo's licensing before. So now you got two Korean automakers having a war by proxy through Russian manufacturer. All that excitement brought to you by copying and pasting five letters into a search engine.
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Rich 8:33PM (9/23/2009)
OOH LOOK!
http://www.tagaz.ru/cars/
Found under Автомобили (Automobili in roman script).
They also state they *are* Hyundai в России: Hyundai of Russia.
mr.ed 7:16PM (9/23/2009)
Russian vehicles have to be made more substantial than what we're used to, because their roads are terrible. There are still horse drawn wagons on mud streets struggling to get goods to market. The CIA missed this entirely when they claimed the Soviet Union had the capacity to attack us. They didn't even have the ability to get crops off the ground where they were dumped because there were no silos, and their truck output was/is so puny there was no way they could feed their army if mobilized, let alone get them into battle. All this info was in TIME magazine for anybody to read, but the CIA was trying to keep their jobs by scaring us into wasting billions trying to keep up with a bankrupt ghost.
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Rich 8:35PM (9/23/2009)
Come back when you've driven a Lada and fixed it with chewing gum.
I'm waiting.
Shiftright 9:50PM (9/23/2009)
What else are fromer KGB agents to do? Old habits die hard...
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