Daewoo Lanos: История модели и её модификации

The Daewoo Lanos is a compact / sedan car produced by the South Korean manufacturer Daewoo from 1997 to 2002, and thereafter produced under license agreements in various countries worldwide. It has also been marketed as the Daewoo Sens, ZAZ Sens and ZAZ Lanos in Ukraine, Doninvest Assol and ZAZ Chance in Russia, FSO Lanos in Poland, or Chevrolet Lanos in Ukraine, Russia, and Egypt. It was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and initially featured three body styles: three door and five door hatchbacks and a four door sedan. The Lanos was designated the T100 model code at launch; the T150 code applies to the updated models introduced in 1999. In 2006, a panel van version, produced in Ukraine by ZAZ, was also introduced. The Daewoo Lanos was designed to replace the Daewoo Nexia in the Daewoo line up and was itself replaced by the Daewoo Kalos. Production of the Daewoo Lanos ended in 2020.

In 1992, Daewoo dissolved its joint venture with General Motors, and simultaneously a decision was made to independently develop replacements for the contemporary Daewoo Motors products, based on older General Motors models. The Lanos development programme was formally started in autumn 1993, with the goal to create a car to replace Daewoo Nexia as Daewoo's small family car. The project began with a comparative study of competing models from 20 different manufacturers, with Toyota Tercel, Opel Astra and Volkswagen Golf identified as most competitive. Four design studios were commissioned to deliver clay models presenting their ideas for the new model's styling. Giorgetto Giugiaro's design was chosen, and Italdesign was commissioned to develop the car's final outside and interior styling. The technical side of the project was conducted simultaneously by Daewoo's development centre Korea, as well as suppliers and contractors who were involved in developing particular components. This included AC Rochester (engine components), Delco Chassis Division (brakes, including ABS), GM Powertrain (automatic transmission), Italdesign (body, structural analysis, electrics, prototype construction), PARS Passive Rückhaltesysteme GmbH (airbags) and Porsche (vehicle concept – research, structural analysis, suspension and brake components, and experimental production supervision). From March 2009, the updated version is called ZAZ Lanos (internal model T150). The engines are still supplied by GM Daewoo, although a Chinese developed engine from Chery Automobile has been fitted and there are plans to build the 1.6 L engine at the MeMZ plant. In 2005, General Motors contracted with ZAZ to provide Ukrainian assembled Lanos models for the Ukrainian and Russian markets, to be imported duty free, thanks to an international agreement, and sold through the GM dealer network. Sales of the Chevrolet Lanos sedan commenced in Russia in November 2005. The Chevrolet brand was utilized to compete effectively with the Renault Logan. From July 2009, it is marketed in Russia as ZAZ Chance. In 2006, a panel van variant of the ZAZ Lanos was introduced.

The Lanos was finally phased out after the 2002 model year, superseded worldwide by the Daewoo Kalos. Daewoo ceased operations in North America. After GM took over Daewoo to become GMDAT, Chevrolet began importing the Daewoo Kalos, rebadged as the Aveo, to North America beginning with MY 2004. However, the Lanos continues to be sold in Mexico and Latin America. The 2001 and 2002 models follow a recent trend among cars intended to be sold in many markets, in that their rear lamps are asymmetric, with the fog lamp and reverse lamp occupying complementary spots on the driver's side and passenger side respectively; consequently, the rear lamps differ between left and right hand drive examples.

In Ukraine, the Lanos has been the best selling car since at least 2006, and until 2014 (except 2012), being produced by the local manufacturer ZAZ under its own brand (starting from 2005). Over the years, 364,000 cars were bought in Ukraine.