Ssangyong Motor to sell 45,000 Korando C SUVs in 2011

Ssangyong Motor Co will start selling a new version of its Korando C sport-utility vehicle in South Korea next month, the first model it will introduce after Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd bought a stake in the carmaker.

Ssangyong aims to sell about 45,000 Korando C units globally this year, the Pyeongtaek, South Korea-based carmaker said today in a statement. The SUV is Ssangyong’s first new model in almost three years.

The company may introduce as many as three new models in four years to revive sales, according to Mahindra, which completed the purchase of its stake in Ssangyong this month. Ssangyong aims to boost total sales 50 per cent this year, Choi Jin Woung, a company spokesman, said yesterday.

The Korando C, priced from 19.95 million won ($17,700), is powered by a 2-litre diesel engine. The automaker expects to sell about 20,000 units in the domestic market, according to the statement.

“We will work hard to set a foundation to grow as a global carmaker through entering markets worldwide including India,” Lee Yoo Il, Ssangyong’s chairman and court-appointed manager, said today at a press briefing at Jeju Island off Korea’s south coast.

Mahindra, India’s largest manufacturer of sport-utility vehicles and tractors, owns 70 pe rcent of Ssangyong after the Korean automaker’s creditors approved the Mumbai-based company’s plan to purchase new shares for 427.1bn won. The deal gives Mahindra access to more advanced engines and helps expand dealer networks in Asia and Europe.

Mahindra and Ssangyong are in talks to develop two compact autos, which will be either regular passenger cars or crossover models, to meet growing demand for fuel-efficient vehicles, Lee Jae Wan, a vice president of Ssangyong, told reporters at Jeju Island today.

Mahindra also agreed to maintain and invest in the Ssangyong brand as well as spend on the South Korean carmaker’s research and development center, Chairman Lee said.

Ssangyong fell 2 per cent to 10,050 won as of 1:15 pm in Seoul trading. Mahindra declined 2.3 per cent to 634.55 rupees in Mumbai as of 10:30 am local time.

Ssangyong, formerly controlled by China’s Saic Motor Corp, sought bankruptcy protection in February 2009 after higher fuel prices and the global recession damped sales of its SUVs.

The company aims to sell about 123,000 vehicles globally this year, including exports of 67,000 units, spokesman Choi Jin Woung said in a telephone interview. It sold 81,747 vehicles last year, including 49,288 overseas.