Daewoo Royale Daewoo Royale The Daewoo Royale is a series of Executive cars that was produced by Daewoo in South Korea from 1983, being replaced by the Daewoo Prince in 1991, although production of the top-line Daewoo Imperial continued until 1993. The Royale's predecessor was launched in 1972 by General Motors Korea (GMK) as the Rekord, becoming the Saehan Rekord in 1976 when Saehan Motors replaced GMK, until production ended in 1978. This car was a version of the German Opel Rekord D. The second generation Saehan Rekord was a development of the Opel Rekord E. Production began in 1978, along with
Daewoo LeMans while the three-door was called Daewoo Racer and only the sedan was called LeMans. Korean market cars received a 1.5-litre engine (with ) as there was a severe tax penalty for cars with larger engines. In October 1991 the LeMans received a facelift, with a reworked front and superficially changed taillights. This version was called the Asüna SE/GT in the Canadian market, where it replaced the Passport Optima. When South Korean production of the original LeMans finally came to an end in February 1997, over 1 million had been built. This car was sold in Australia as the "Daewoo 1.5i",