SsangYong Motor is on the lookout for a potential buyer, following Mahindra & Mahindra having said that it was willing to let go of its ownership stake in the struggling Korean automaker, Reuters reports. Mahindra saved SsangYong from insolvency with a deal in 2010, and presently holds a 74.65% share of the company.
This comes following news that emerged in April, when Mahindra said it would no longer invest in SsangYong, and had asked the Korean brand to look elsewhere for funding. The Indian conglomerate had previously said it would be pumping US$423 million into SsangYong to make it profitable by 2022, but then Covid-19 showed up, effectively ending that plan.
According to South Korean media, SsangYong has reportedly picked Samsung Securities to tap the market for a possible investor. Citing unnamed sources, the news reports said that Chinese automakers Geely and BYD might be interested in the Korean company, but a representative for Geely said the company has no plan to participate in any bidding for SsangYong, while BYD declined to comment on the matter.
SsangYong has been ailing for a long while. The company reported its 13th consecutive quarterly operating loss in January-March, and is heavily burdened by debt. Sales of its vehicles have been poor and diminishing yearly – the Korean brand sold just 14,627 vehicles in Europe last year, down 10% from 16,082 units sold in 2018.
Earlier this year, SsangYong had planned to begin selling a fully electric version of its Korando SUV in Europe. The electric model was due to be displayed at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, which ended up being cancelled due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
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Geely interested Korea LHD market.. Bts kpop wei
Relax. Proton sold zero units of cars in Europe from 2010 until today. No worries at all.
Deswai proton was saved from destruction facing Ssangyong now. Phew!
Geely Chinas save the world! Long live forever
Proton can now selling Persona & Iriz in korea…
Korrado uses M161, M162, OM661 and OM662 Mercedes engines built under license. That’s why they still sold quite a lot of cars in Europe (spare parts are easily available, a lot of qualified mechanics for that engines too).
lol problem with this brand, the koreans bought it only because it was korean, when it turned indian, nobody wanted one.
Looks ugly
Umm.. I’m uglier
EV and Europe hence European marques are selling their internal combustion engines to countries that do not have stringent policies on EV.
Li Shufu, do you read this?
He doesn’t, but I do.