SsangYong has a new parent company: Edison Motors, also South Korea. That has taken over the majority stake in the car manufacturer from Mahindra & Mahindra.
Where Hyundai and Kia conquer the world with their cars, it does not go smoothly with compatriot SsangYong. Last year, the brand sold just under 85,000 cars worldwide. It is therefore not very surprising that parent company Mahindra & Mahindra no longer saw any benefits, although you can also wonder whether that company has done its best to make something of SsangYong. Anyway: there is a future for the brand again. Edison Motors is the new owner, various media report including Automotive News.
Last fall there were rumors that Edison Motors, which like SsangYong comes from South Korea, would be interested. The deal is now complete, for the equivalent of more than €225 million. There’s a good chance Edison Motors will turn SsangYong into an all-electric brand. Their fuel engines are not the strongest point because of the often quite high emissions. In addition, one brand after another will be switching to a purely electric range in the near future. Incidentally, SsangYong is already taking steps on the EV market, with the fully electric Korando e-Motion.
It’s going to be exciting what financial incentives Edison Motors can give to get SsangYong out of the doldrums. SsangYong is heavily in debt. In any case, Edison Motors is not yet a big name internationally, but in its home country it is known for electric city buses. In any case, there is already knowledge in-house in the field of electric powertrains.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl