DAEWOO will maintain aggressive pricing in Britain when vital new cars are launched late this year or early next year. As the all-new range-leading Lanos, which along with the other two cars in the new line-up, made its debut at the Barcelona Motor Show, a Daewoo spokesman said: 'Our target is to offer this range at prices broadly similar to those of the outgoing Nexia. By making it available for around £9,000, we will be lining up some stiff competition for the Escort and Astra.'

The Lanos, a 1.4-litre and 1.6-litre three and five-door hatchback and four-door C-segment saloon range is the first product to reflect the new face of Daewoo - and show how the ambitious company intends to achieve global major-player status by the turn of the century. It will be closely followed by the Nubira, which will be offered in four-door saloon and estate form only, and with 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre power, as a D-segment rival for the Mondeo. The range-topping Leganza is a two-litre upper D saloon which will compete with Rover's 600, the Honda Accord and the VW Passat.