The sort of car Tesco would make

The Daewoo name has been dumped, but this Chevy lacks zing, says Sean O'Grady

"What are you driving, Sean?"

"A Chevrolet Lacetti Station Wagon."

"Is it big?"

"No."

"Is it American?"

"No."

"What is it?"

"It's a Daewoo."

"What's a Daewoo?"

I made the last line up, but the rest is genuine. It will also, I suspect, be the sort of exchange that will become tediously familiar to people who buy these new Chevvies.

Daewoo is dead, you see, killed by parent General Motors who thinks that Chevrolet is a much more acceptable badge. A few weeks ago all of Daewoo's cars and dealers were re- branded, and so it is that these little Korean cars have now got the not-very-familiar Chevrolet name and "bow tie" badge stuck on them.

Same cars as ever were, but a different name. Plus two new variants: the Kalos three-door supermini reviewed by my colleague John Simister a couple of editions ago, and this, the estate - sorry, buddy, station wagon - version of the Ford Focus-sized Lacetti.

So just when we'd all managed to get used to Daewoo, it's gone. You might remember that they did quite well for a few years, knocking out restyled versions of old Vauxhall/Opel cavaliers and Astras with a "no haggle" guaranteed price and long warranties.

The initial success, however, was not sustained - and when that happens General Motors reaches for the drawer marked "rebadging" They did it to Vauxhall (now only sold in the UK); they're doing it to Saab (forcing them to make Cadillacs in Sweden); and now it's Daewoo's turn. The invent new brands, such as Saturn, and dispose of venerable names, such as Oldsmobile, just as readily.

The problem is that cars make reputations, not the other way around. Make much better cars, and eventually your reputation will catch up. Ask Skoda. Make worse ones and it will drag your name down. Ask Mercedes.

Chevrolet make big American cars, or so their reputation tells us. Ask anyone what Chevy means and they'll mutter something like, "Drove my Chevy to the levee..." Things have to change if it is to become GM's undisputed "value brand" in the UK.

Well, I drove my Chevy to Rutland Water and it was fine. It looks inoffensive and reasonably competent, and it is. The test Lacetti was well built and drove nicely, with an excellent ride across speed humps (very important for us urbanites). On the open road, it wasn't refined, but the 1.6 litre engine was punchy enough to make decent progress on the motorway, or freeway as I should probably call the M1. Third gear was a bit tricky, but otherwise things were unremarkable.

Looks-wise, it has a chunky, well-proportioned quality, and could easily be mistaken for one of the newer Volvo or Skoda estates. Like some other Korean cars, though, the wheels were too small for it, and that spoiled its "stance" on the road. Indoors, it has all that a modern buyer could want for £11,000; air-conditioning, electric windows and a CD player, complete with controls on the steering wheel.

But it is not an uplifting place. Remember that Spitting Image puppet of John Major that was so grey that even his teeth and skin were grey? That's what it's like inside the Lacetti.

And that's where we leave this Chevy; anonymous, grey, more appliance than car. The sort of car, in fact, that Tesco would make if they were in the motor business. "The Tesco Lacetti." It could work. Just don't tell General Motors, or they'll want to rebadge it again.