Automobile Craiova

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Automobile Craiova is a car factory located in Craiova, Romania.

After producing the Oltcit for many years, the company decided to go into partnership with the Korean Daewoo firm. The company was renamed Daewoo Automobile Romania in 1994 and by 1996 the factory (known as 'Rodae') was producing the Tico , Cielo and Espero.

In 1997 a new engine and transmission factory was opened by the company, and by 2001 was also producing the Matiz and Nubira II. However, by this time, the main parent company in Korea had collapsed, due to financial problems in South Korea economy and over-expansion in Central Asia and Eastern Europe.

In 2002 General Motors bought the bulk of Daewoo Motor in South Korea, but did not buy the plants producing Daewoo cars in Romania, Uzbekistan or Poland. Due to this deal, Rodae was not allowed to export their products to neighbouring countries any more, or produce newer models by the new GM Daewoo Auto&Technology company.

To make matters worse for the company, General Motors starting selling the products of the GM Daewoo Auto&Technology company in 2003, under the Chevrolet brand.

In 2006 the Romanian government bought back the factory for US$60 million and a year later, in September 2007, Ford was interested to acquire a 72.4 percent stake in the company for 57 million euro. Ford announced that it intends to invest $675 million euro in the factory, which is supposed to build up to 300,000 cars a year and increase the number of employees from 3,900 to 7,000.^[1]