Daewoo Leganza
The Daewoo Leganza is a mid-size sedan produced by Daewoo in South Korea between 1997 and 2002. Its internal development name was V100, under which it and its platform are also known. Daewoo explained that the name Leganza originated from the combination of two Italian words – elegante and forza.
Development
The Leganza was a part of Daewoo's effort to develop a lineup of proprietary vehicles to replace previous GM-licensed models. Sister projects to the V100 are the T100 Daewoo Lanos and J100 Daewoo Nubira. The development of "x100" cars involved the work of many subcontractors and suppliers. This involved, among others, ZF with regard to transmissions, Holden concerning the engines and it was developed in remarkable lead-times of around 30 months under ex-Porsche and BMW engineering chief Dr. Ulrich Bez supervising design efforts. Developed in just 30 months and with Daewoo's what they called 'growing' in-house R&D network in Korea, Worthing and Munich with the world's best engineering consultancies.Leganza was styled by the famous Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign. It is believed that this design was inspired by Giugiaro's 1990 Jaguar Kensington concept car, a pedigree Leganza's body shares with the 1991 Toyota Aristo. In case of Leganza, however, Giugiaro had to deal with a slightly shorter vehicle with front-wheel rather than rear-wheel drive, which, combined with Daewoo styling cues, resulted in a controversial appearance although contemporary reviews praised the styling.
Work of the Leganza began at the end of 1993, along with the Lanos and the Nubira. Work on the Leganza began later, which is why in some markets the Leganza was marketed late. After serious research of the Leganza being a mid-size executive car, further work on the V100 began. Designing the final appearance took only 3 months, and this is because ItalDesign was based on Kensington. The sketch in the following picture is one of many finally rejected sketches. Over the next 2 years, many prototypes were built and tested. Road tests began in May 1995 and ended exactly a year later. Ultimately, Leganza was then ready for production in February 1997.
Aerodynamic ratings were 0.32 Cd. The same result was obtained by the Daewoo Arcadia.
Marketing
Daewoo rapidly expanded their distribution network with the inception of new models, which made the Leganza present in the markets of most countries, albeit not necessarily with sales success. Daewoo placed special emphasis on developing markets, which involved the assembly of Leganzas in countries like Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Russia and Uzbekistan, in plants owned by Daewoo or under license agreements. Nevertheless, this concerned CKD or SKD assembly only, as all Leganzas were effectively made at Daewoo's Bupyong plant in Korea.It is worth noting that, contrary to many Korean cars sold worldwide, the Leganza was almost invariably sold under the Daewoo Leganza name, the only exception being the Doninvest Kondor, a short-lived version assembled by the Russian Doninvest corporation on Taganrog's TagAZ. It was poorly equipped than other Leganza's, meaning not a single airbag in sight for example.
At the time it was launched, the Leganza was a bit longer than most mid-size European or Asian cars, which is why it was initially marketed as an inexpensive executive car in some markets.
United Kingdom
The Leganza's market began in Autumn 1997 along with the Lanos and Nubira. It was a replacement slightly larger than the Espero. The same aftersales package were given, including a 3 years/60,000-mile warranty, 3 years free servicing, parts and labour, 3 years AA cover and 100 free cars were given out for a year to test customers' experience with them to examine the customer satisfaction. This was extended to a free one years' free insurance for 1998.Trim levels were sold as SX and CDX with the following equipment:
SX - ABS, twin airbags, air-con, keyless entry, power steering, electric sunroof and electric heated mirrors
CDX - alloy wheels, traction control, speed-sensitive power steering, full climate control, outside temperature display, front foglamps, ultrasonic alarm, upgraded seat coverings, wood effect and chrome trim and a leather covered steering wheel.
Prices for the SX started from £13,795 and for the CDX, £14,995. Auto transmission and a full leather trim with a drivers power seat were available as options for £500. The 2.0 litre 'D-Tec' engine was the only engine available. With the aftersales package and its engines, the Leganza was cheaper to operate than some of its rivals. The Leganza CDX was given a cost-per-mile figure of 25.9 pence compared to others:
| Car | Cost-per-mile figure |
| Renault Laguna RXE 2.0 | 28.4 |
| Peugeot 406 LX 2.0 16v | 27.1 |
| Ford Mondeo 2.0 Si | 27.0 |
| Rover 618i 16v | 26.8 |
| VW Passat S 20v | 26.7 |
The Leganza SX was given a cost-per-mile figure of just 24.9 pence.
At March 25th 1999, Easter sales were offered to the following models as a 'two-for-one' offer:
| Trim Level | Price before | Price in Sale |
| CDX | £11,995 | £11,495 |
| CDX-E | £15,495 | £14,495 |
At March 31st 1999, prices were declared to change from 1st April 1999 to the following:
| Trim Level | Price |
| SX | £14,125 |
| CDX | £15,325 |
| CDX-E | £17,825 |
After that, prices were declared to be reduced even more from 1st January 2001:
| Trim Level | New Price | Previous Price |
| SX | £12,495 | £14,125 |
| CDX | £13,495 | £15,325 |
| CDX-E | £14,995 | £17,825 |
CDX-E
In May 1998, Daewoo launched another version of the Leganza, the CDX-E. The difference was that it featured the Philips CARiN satellite navigation system with full in-car entertainment, 10-Disc CD autochanger, leather upholstery, new 15Australian Marketing/improvements
The base Leganza was offered with a 2.0L 4-cylinder engine, 5-speed manual, hubcaps, cloth trim and all the standard power options. It had an optional 4-speed, hydraulically operated transmission that was said to be rough operating, tended to hunt between gears, and do unnecessary downshifts to second gear. Ride quality was poor, as was cabin noise intrusion. In 1999, Daewoo made revisions to the model. The rough-operating hydraulic auto was replaced by an electronically controlled automatic transmission, which stopped the hunting between gears and random downshifts. The engine was upgraded to the 2.2 l, which boosted power from to, giving better performance, but increasing fuel consumption. The Leganza also gained standard 15-inch alloy wheels, anti-theft alarm, and remote central locking. The suspension was fixed and improved, but sacrificed the smooth ride from the before model and the ability to soak up the bumps. In 2001 the Leganza gained leather upholstery, woodgrain trim, and an electric driver's seat. This was called the "Limited Edition". In 2002 the Nubira gained a leather interior, woodgrain, anti-theft alarm, alloy wheels and remote locking; this too was considered the "Limited Edition".Driveline
The Leganza was a front-wheel-drive car, available with a four-door sedan body only. The Leganza was powered by Holden-sourced D-TEC DOHC 16V I4 engines :- 2.0 l – at 5,400 rpm, at 4,600 rpm of torque – used in models sold in Europe.
- 2.2 l – at 5,200 rpm, at 2,800 rpm of torque – used mainly for the American and Australian market.
Electric and Hybrid versions
From 1997 to 1999, several electric and hybrid Leganza's were created in Korea. However, they all remained prototypes. Each of them was painted white. It has been accepted that the following Leganza in the picture is called 'Leganza NGV'. Only one copy was shown at the Seoul Motor Show 1997. The Leganza NGV became the Shiraz. The interiors of these Leganza NGV's were also modified and it was possible that they did not have a rear seat. On the larger photo you can see one of the electric Leganza's during an electric car show in Korea. It was a closed show and only a few people could participate in it.Replacement
Contrary to Matiz or Nubira, the Leganza was not afforded a mid-life facelift, so there was no "V150" model. Rather than that, Daewoo increased the wheelbase of the V100 platform by to develop a new model, called Daewoo Magnus, which was launched in 2000. Both models were sold side by side in Korea, and the Leganza got a small update in 2001 – but the Magnus has not been launched internationally until Leganza's demise in 2002, effectively replacing it. Daewoo ceased North American sales by then, so the V200 was released as the Suzuki Verona in the United States and Canada.There was no successor in the United Kingdom or Ireland until the launch of the Daewoo Tosca under the nameplate of Chevrolet Epica in 2007.