A new name should finally bring peace to South Korean SUV brand SsangYong. The name of the company will be changed to KG Mobility in 2023; Upcoming new models will also be released under this label. This was announced by Kwak Jea-sun, CEO of KG Group. KG Group took over the automaker, which went bankrupt in 2020, last year after a lengthy bidding hiccup.
The name of Korea’s oldest automaker will soon be lost. Why is that? After all, name changes in the automotive industry are always a hot topic – brands often burned their fingers with this one. Kwak Jea-sun says SsangYong has a worldwide fan base: “But it’s also a painful sight.” The company was founded in 1954 and initially produced jeeps for the US Army. The brand then worked with Mercedes from 1991: SsangYong took over the engines and technology from the German cooperation partner for the SUV models. At the time they were convincing in terms of price – but not necessarily with a successful design.
Always new owners
Deadly fans caught on to it, but the brand never made a big breakthrough in Europe. But the ownership situation was tumultuous: In 1997, Korean rival Daewoo took over, but he himself got into trouble and was taken over by the US auto company General Motors in 2002. SsangYong acquired Chinese SAIC Motors (including the MG brand), went bankrupt in 2009, and was swallowed up by the Indian mega-company Mahindra a year later.
This owner also failed at the wrong time: At the start of the corona epidemic, the second bankruptcy followed – shortly before SsangYong wanted to start again with new models and the first electric SUV. Several competitors from South Korea got into a bidding war, with bus manufacturer Edison Motors winning the contract – but then unable to pay. With the KG Group as a smiling third party.
The future is electric
As the new majority owner for the name change, it still needs the approval of other shareholders at the March general meeting, and then wants to quickly develop a new logo and possibly a new strategy towards becoming a mobility provider. selling car. The new name already shows that.
After the recently launched all-electric Korando e-Motion, the Torres is already the next innovation in the starting blocks. In South Korea it is already rolling the streets with internal combustion engines, but it is expected to arrive in Europe only in all-electric. And then possibly with a new name and a new logo.