[3] In 1981, in an attempt at consolidating the South Korean transportation industry which had been hard hit by the 1980 recession,[4] the new military dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan forced Kia to give up production of its Brisa and focus entirely on light trucks.

Not only did these changes allow Saehan a bigger share of the market, but they were also able to use the domestically built 1.3-liter (Mazda TC) engine that Kia no longer had any use for, which lowered the price of the new Maepsy considerably.

[5] The facelifted Saehan Maepsy was introduced in February 1982, with the 1.3-liter engine using LPG and producing 76 PS (56 kW) (SAE) for a top speed of 151 km/h (94 mph).

The XQ engine was built by Daewoo from April 1984 and installed in the Maepsy beginning in September, meaning that Kia's 1.3-liter version was retired.

[3] Production of the regular sedan ended in July 1986 when the Racer/LeMans was introduced although a version intended for taxi usage continued to be produced until 1989 as the "Daewoo Maepsy Sigma."

After a number of years they were bought by a Norwegian entrepreneur and sold in Norway at rock bottom prices, in spite of much resistance from other local importers.