SsangYong saga officially over! EV specialist succeeds Mahindra as new owner of Korea's other automotive brand, with electric cars set to be its sole focus

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SsangYong’s model line-up is set to be overhauled under its new ownership.
Justin Hilliard
Head of Editorial
12 Jan 2022
2 min read

SsangYong finally has a new owner, with Korea’s number-three automotive brand having officially been acquired by an electric vehicle (EV) specialist.

As expected, the company in question is Korean startup Edison Motor, which currently sells zero-emissions trucks and buses. It led a consortium to reach the ‘bargain’ 305 billion won ($A355.7m) deal.

Previous owner Mahindra & Mahindra bought SsangYong in 2010, when the latter had filed for receivership amid financial troubles. Fast forward to early 2021 and history repeated itself as a reported 60 billion won ($A70m) of debt was on the books.

After a decade of failing to turn SsangYong around, Mahindra & Mahindra decided to divest, eventually kicking off a long court-led search for new ownership that ultimately ended with Edison Motor, which has grand plans.

From the outset, Edison Motor has contributed 50 billion won ($A58.3m) in operating capital to help SsangYong stay afloat, while the remainder of the acquisition money will be spent repaying some of its debt to financial institutions.

That said, SsangYong will remain under court receivership until Edison Motor’s business plan is approved, including by a 66 per cent majority of the creditors. It must be submitted by March 1.

Edison Motor’s business plan will include a seismic shift in SsangYong’s focus, from SUVs and utes with internal-combustion engines to EVs in the next decade, although hat transition already started with the Korando e-Motion mid-size SUV.

As reported, SsangYong announced plans last July to shutter its only vehicle assembly plant, with its sale to help fund the construction of an all-new EV-specific factory, which will also be located in South Korea's Pyongtaek area.

For reference, SsangYong’s global sales (including Australia) decreased by 21 per cent, to just 84,496 units, in 2021, with an operating loss of 238 billion won ($A277.5m) reported between January and September, from 1.8 trillion won ($A2.1b) of revenue.

Justin Hilliard
Head of Editorial
Justin’s dad chose to miss his birth because he wanted to watch Peter Brock hopefully win Bathurst, so it figures Justin grew up to have a car obsession, too – and don’t worry, his dad did turn up in time after some stern words from his mum. That said, despite loving cars and writing, Justin chose to pursue career paths that didn’t lend themselves to automotive journalism, before eventually ending up working as a computer technician. But that car itch just couldn’t be scratched by his chipped Volkswagen Golf R (Mk7), so he finally decided to give into the inevitable and study a Master of Journalism at the same time. And even with the long odds, Justin was lucky enough to land a full-time job as a motoring journalist soon after graduating and the rest, as they say, is history. These days, Justin happily finds himself working at CarsGuide during the biggest period of change yet for the automotive industry, which is perhaps the most exciting part of all. In case you’re wondering, Justin begrudgingly sold the Golf R (sans chip) and still has plans to buy his dream car, an E46 BMW M3 coupe (manual, of course), but he is in desperate need of a second car space – or maybe a third.
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