SsangYong Motor Company is the fourth largest South Korea-based automobile manufacturer, which is owned by Indian multinational automotive company Mahindra & Mahindra Limited. A 70% share of SsangYong was acquired by Mahindra & Mahindra in February 2011, after being named the preferred bidder in 2010 to acquire the bankruptcy-protected company. Mahindra's acquisition was approved by South Korea's Free Trade Commission. As of January 2019, Mahindra & Mahindra holds a 74.65% stake in the company.
History
Dong-A Motor (1954–1987)
SsangYong originally started out as two separate companies; Ha Dong-hwan Motor Workshop and Dongbang Motor Co. In mid-1963, the two companies merged into Ha Dong-hwan Motor Co. In 1964, Hadonghwan Motor Company started building jeeps for the US Army as well as trucks and buses. Beginning in 1976, Hadonghwan produced a variety of special purpose vehicles. After changing its name to Dong-A Motor in 1977 and taking control of Keohwa in 1984, it was taken over by SsangYong Business Group in 1986.
Gallery
Keohwa (1981–1984)
was a South Korean assembler of Jeeps under licence, mainly for export markets. Its predecessor was the Jeep assembly joint venture of Shinjin Motors and American Motor Corporation, established in 1974. It was spun off as an independent company in 1981, after AMC left the venture and retired the permission to use the Jeep trade mark. In 1983, Jeeps from Keohwa started to be named as "Korando". In 1984, Keohwa was acquired by the predecessor of SsangYong Motor, Dong-A Motor.
SsangYong Motors (1986–present)
After Dong-A Motor was taken over by SsangYong Business Group, Dong-A Motor changed its name to SsangYong Motor in 1988. In 1987, it acquired United Kingdom-based specialty car makerPanther Westwinds. In 1991, SsangYong started a technology partnership with Daimler-Benz. The deal was for SsangYong to develop an SUV with Mercedes-Benz technology. This was supposedly to allow SsangYong to gain footholds in new markets without having to build their own infrastructure while giving Mercedes a competitor in the then-booming SUV market. This resulted in the Musso, which was sold first by Mercedes-Benz and later by SsangYong. SsangYong further benefited from this alliance, long after Daimler-Benz stopped selling the Musso, producing a badge engineered version of the Mercedes-Benz MB100, the Istana and using Daimler designs in many other models, including the second-generation Korando, the Rexton, the Chairman H and the Kyron.
In 1997, Daewoo Motors, now GM Korea, bought a controlling stake from the SsangYong Group, only to sell it off again in 2000, because the conglomerate ran into deep financial troubles. In late 2004, the Chinese automobile manufacturer SAIC took a 51% stake of SsangYong Motor Company. In January 2009, after recording a $75.42 million loss, the company was put into receivership. This may have been due to the global economic crisis and shrinking demand. On August 14, 2009, worker strikes finished at the SsangYong factory and production commenced again after 77 days of disruption. Company employees and analysts have also blamed SAIC for stealing technology related to hybrid vehicles from the company and failing to live up to its promise of continued investment. SAIC denied allegations of technology theft by the company's employees. However, SAIC was charged by the South Korean prosecutor's office for violating company regulations and the South Korean law when it ordered and carried out the transfer of SsangYong's proprietary technology developed with South Korean government funding over to SAIC researchers. In 2010, Daewoo Motor Sales was dropped by General Motors. The long-time dealership partner then signed a deal with the SsangYong Motor Company to supply new vehicles to sell, in return for the injection of into the car maker still recovering from bankruptcy. The deal is non-exclusive, meaning SsangYong will also sell vehicles through private dealers.
Takeover by Mahindra Automotive
In April 2010, the company released a statement citing interest of three to four local and foreign companies in acquiring SsangYong Motor Company, resulting in shares rising by 15%. The companies were later revealed to be Mahindra & Mahindra, Ruia Group, SM Aluminum, Seoul Investments and French-owned Renault Samsung Motors of South Korea. In August 2010, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited was chosen as the preferred bidder for SsangYong. The acquisition was completed in February 2011 and cost Mahindra US$463.6 million. In 2015, SsangYong launched the Tivoli, its first car launched after Mahindra acquisition. Within a year of Tivoli's launch, the company reported its first net profit in 9 years. In 2017, SsangYong sold 106,677 units in domestic sales and 37,008 units in exports, setting a record high in 14 years since 2003, when its annual domestic sales stood at 131,283 units. Out of this, the Tivoli alone contributed over 50,000 units of domestic sales for the company. Mahindra XUV300, which was later launched in 2019 is built on Tivoli's platform, sharing many parts including several metal sheets. Mahindra is also working with its SsangYong subsidiary to introduce high performance electric vehicles in South Korea for mass-market sales. Mahindra and SsangYong have increased their collaboration on engines and electric cars.
