The SsangYong era is officially over! The electric vehicle specialist has replaced Mahindra as the new owner of another automotive brand in Korea, and his sole focus will be on electric vehicles.
The SsangYong lineup will be updated under a new owner.
SsangYong finally has a new owner: Korea's number three car brand has been officially acquired by an electric vehicle (EV) specialist.
As expected, we are talking about the Korean startup Edison Motor, which currently sells zero-emission trucks and buses. This resulted in a 305 billion won (AU$355.7 million) "deal" for the consortium.
Previous owner Mahindra & Mahindra bought SsangYong in 2010 when the latter filed for receivership due to financial problems. Fast forward to early 2021 and history will repeat itself as a reported 60 billion won (AU$70 million) debt has been filed.
After a decade of failed attempts to turn things around with SsangYong, Mahindra & Mahindra decided to get rid of it, eventually starting a lengthy legal search for a new owner that eventually ended for Edison Motor, which has grand plans.
From the start, Edison Motor has invested 50 billion won (AU$58.3 million) in operating capital to help SsangYong stay afloat, with the remainder of the acquisition money going to pay off some of its debt to financial institutions.
However, SsangYong will remain in court until Edison Motor's business plan is approved, including by a 66 percent majority of creditors. It must be submitted by March 1st.
Edison Motor's business plan will include a dramatic shift in SsangYong's focus from SUVs and passenger cars with internal combustion engines to electric vehicles in the next decade, although the transition has already begun with the Korando e-Motion midsize SUV.
Last July, SsangYong reportedly announced plans to close its sole car assembly plant, and the sale will help finance the construction of a brand new electric vehicle plant, also to be located in South Korea's Pyeongtaek region.
For reference, SsangYong's global sales (including Australia) declined 21% to just 84,496 units in 2021, with an operating loss of 238 billion won (AU$277.5 million) from 1.8 trillion won ($2.1 million) between January and September. million). AXNUMXb) income.
