Vehicle Overview The Leganza is the largest, most expensive model of Daewoos three U.S. vehicles, and this midsize sedan gets minor equipment changes for 2001. Daewoo (pronounced day-woo) is a South Korean manufacturer that had ambitions of becoming a major player in the global auto industry, but it suffered massive financial losses. The result is that Daewoos car business went up for sale, and General Motors and Fiat currently are the only potential suitors in a joint effort to rescue the company.
How this will affect Daewoos future in the United States is uncertain, because GM and Fiat may want to buy only portions of the Korean companys auto operations.
Exterior The Leganza comes in four-door styling, and at 184 inches overall, it is 4 to 5 inches shorter than the Toyota Camry or Honda Accord.
Interior Five-passenger seating and a 60/40-split rear seatback that folds for extra cargo room are standard. All models also come with air conditioning and power locks, windows and heated mirrors. Leather upholstery is standard on the SX and CDX models and not available on the base SE.
Under the Hood The front-drive Leganza comes with a 2.2-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 131 horsepower. The SE comes with a standard five-speed manual or optional four-speed automatic transmission. Other models come with the automatic.
Antilock brakes are standard on the SX and CDX, and the CDX also has traction control.
Driving Impressions With a base price of $13,999, the Leganza is attractively priced against other midsize sedans. A fully loaded CDX model still costs less than $20,000 and includes leather upholstery, a power sunroof and other amenities. A similarly equipped Accord or Camry will cost considerably more, though both have higher resale value and are built by blue-chip companies. While the Leganza has competent performance and a lot of features for the money, there are too many questions about Daewoos future to make this a prime choice, except on price.
