Daewoo Nubira is a compact car which was produced by the South Korean automaker Daewoo from 1997 to 2002 as a 4-door sedan, 5-door hatchback and a 5-door station wagon. Development The Daewoo Nubira (J100 platform) was released in 1997 reflecting Daewoo's new found design and manufacturing process. Production took under 30 months by ex-Porsche and BMW engineering chief Dr. Ulrich Bez (later of Aston Martin), with Daewoo's growing in-house R&D network in Korea, Worthing and Munich collaborating with the world's best engineering consultancies. Styling was done by I.DE.A Institute in Italy, and other companies involved in the development programme included Ricardo and GM Holden. Built in Kunsan, South Korea in a factory equipped with sophisticated laser-guided robots, it was developed as a replacement. People weren't entirely sure what was the replacement, but Daewoo said that not only did it replace the lower and medium specification of the Espero, but also those at the upper end line-up of the Nexia. Overview The name Nubira (누비라) is the command form of the Korean verb Nubida (누비다), meaning to crisscross. Thus the name was chosen to convey the aspiration that this car would be seen crisscrossing every corner of the globe. The Nubira II (J150) (facelift) was released for the model year 2000. Over 90 improvements were made by Daewoo's Worthing Technical Centre in the United Kingdom, including an increase in passenger space and a decrease in noise, harshness and vibration (by adding a fourth engine mount and retuning the intake resonators for example). Offset crash performance was further improved in the second generation, as demonstrated by Australian ANCAP tests, though it fell well short of exemplary performance. The exterior was reworked, including the revamped front, a more angular rear and door mirrors creating a more dynamic upright and swept look of the era, a design later seen reflected by the Lexus ES350 and 2004 Mitsubishi Diamante. International market Nubiras had a choice of a Daewoo "E-Tech" 1.3,"E-Tech" 1.6, or Holden 1.8 or 2.0-litre inline-four gasoline engines: no diesel version was ever offered, although the Worthing Technical Centre installed Renault's F8 1.9-litre engine in a small number of test vehicles, under a development programme known as J151. The Nubira was also briefly produced from CKD kits on Taganrog, Russia TagAZ factory; it was marketed as the Doninvest Orion by the Russian automaker Doninvest. Until 2008, Daewoo Nubira was produced in Romania in