The reason for Park's sudden exit from India is not known, but sources indicated that it may be due to some power struggle within the group.

Daewoo's second car in India, the 800cc Matiz, has also not been able to make major inroads in the market and is way behind Hyundai's 1000cc Santro, which was launched around the same time. Sources said it was premature to say if a few other Korean employees at Daewoo at the senior level will also be shifted out of the Indian subsidiary. "Generally, with a new chairman at the helm, some new faces are expected to follow," they added.

Park has been with the group for almost 20 years and has had a stint at all its operations -- from manufacturing to marketing -- in different capacities.

Industry circles are perplexed over the sudden change in thetop management of Daewoo as Park had begun to adopt a more hands-on approach of late with the launch of the additional variants of the Matiz and mid-size car Nexia.

Park had been with the Indian company since the start of its operations and with its not-so-smooth ride since 1995.

The sales of its first offering in the Indian market -- the Cielo -- after an initial good spell started to nosedive and the company was forced to slash prices last year.

The company faced flak from customers as the price was slashed by almost 25 per cent from Rs 6.2 lakh to Rs 4.9 lakh. Daewoo Motor India claimed that the high level of indigenisation of the mid-size car had led to the price cut. In another about turn, Daewoo, which had said last year that it would launch three variants of the Matiz, rolled out just one priced at Rs 3.55 lakh, making it the most expensive small car. The company sold around 4,700 units till March. Earlier this month, in a reversal of strategy, the company announced the launch ofstripped-down models of the Matiz, pricing the basic version at Rs 2.61 lakh. The company was against launching stripped-down models earlier.

Explaining the move to launch additional variants of the Matiz, the chairman had said that the capacity of Daewoo plants in Korea has risen from from 240,000 units last year to 400,000 units this year. This has resulted in a corresponding increase in supplies to Daewoo Motors India. "This is in keeping with our long-term vision for India, wherein we have a commitment to provide the Indian consumer with the best choices".