Daewoo its umbrella several major corporations: A further subsidiary was the Daewoo Development Company, funded by cash from the Group and set up to develop hotels. Seven were built in Korea, China, Vietnam, and Africa. They were personally designed and furnished by Kim Woo-jung's socialite wife Heeja, who was chairwoman of the company. The most lavish is the 5-star Hanoi Daewoo Hotel, which cost US$163 million to build in 1996 and was decorated by Heeja with fine art, porcelain, sculptures, and marble. She invited 3,000 guests to the opening, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kim is believed to have spent time
Daewoo LeMans car market in 1996. It was replaced there by the Lanos in the autumn of 1997, by which time some 40,000 examples had been sold. In Romania, manufacturing began in 1996, at the newly acquired Daewoo Automobile Romania factory in Craiova, being the first Daewoo model produced at the plant. It was offered only with the sedan body style, and was exported to most countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The GLE version, which was the full option model, included air conditioning, power steering, front and rear electric windows, fog lamps, central locking, tachometer and a cassette player stereo system.