Ssangyong

Ha Dong-hwan Motor Workshop, founded in 1954, and Dongbang Motor Co. were the two initial SsangYong businesses (established in 1962). The two businesses combined to become Ha Dong-hwan Motor Co. in the middle of 1963. [3][4] (Korean pronunciation: ). Hadonghwan Motor Corporation began producing trucks, buses, and jeeps for the US Army in 1964. Hadonghwan started producing a range of special purpose cars in 1976. It took over Keohwa in 1984 and changed its name to Dong-A Motor (Korean: ) in 1977 before being acquired by SsangYong Business Group in 1986.

Keohwa, Ltd. (Korean: ; RR: Jusighoesa Geohwa) was a South Korean company that assembled Jeeps for foreign markets under license. Its predecessor was the 1974-founded Jeep assembly joint venture between American Motor Company (AMC) and Shinjin Motors. In 1981, following AMC's exit from the project and the revocation of the license to use the Jeep trademark, it was split out as a separate business. Jeeps from Keohwa began to use the "Korando" moniker in 1983. Dong-A Motor, the company that came before SsangYong Motor, bought Keohwa in 1984.

Dong-A Motor became SsangYong Motor in 1988 following its acquisition by SsangYong Business Group. It bought Panther Westwinds, a manufacturer of specialist vehicles located in the UK, in 1987.
SsangYong and Daimler-Benz established a technical alliance in 1991. The agreement called for SsangYong to create an SUV using Mercedes-Benz technology. This was allegedly done to provide Mercedes a rival in the then-booming SUV industry while also enabling SsangYong to expand into new areas without having to construct their own infrastructure (using existing Mercedes-Benz networks). The Musso was created as a consequence, and it was originally offered by Mercedes-Benz and afterwards by SsangYong.

Additionally, SsangYong benefited from this partnership long after Daimler-Benz stopped selling the Musso by developing the Istana, a badge-engineered Mercedes-Benz MB100, and by incorporating Daimler designs into a number of other models, including the Chairman H (chassis and transmission), the Chairman H second-generation Korando, the Rexton, the second-generation Rexton, and the Kyron (transmission).

The SsangYong Group sold a majority share to Daewoo Motors, now GM Korea, in 1997, who then sold it again in 2000 due to severe financial difficulties faced by the company. SAIC, a Chinese automaker, acquired a 51% share in SsangYong Motor Corporation in late 2004. Workers went on strike for 7 weeks in July and August 2006 in opposition to SAIC's intentions to fire 554 staff. The walkout cost SsangYong 380 billion Won, and employees ultimately agreed to a salary freeze after lengthy discussions.

After reporting a deficit of $75.42 million in January 2009, the business was placed into receivership. The decline in demand and the worldwide economic crisis could be to blame for this. Workers at Ssangyong's main factory stopped working and barricaded themselves inside in protest after management announced plans to eliminate 2,600 jobs, or one-third of the workforce. Within the first 12 days, one older worker passed away from a brain hemorrhage. As the strikers were denied access to water, food, power, and medicine, and after the police surrounded the premises, the protests turned violent. Police employed electroshock devices and allegedly dumped corrosive chemicals on the protesters as the strikers hurled Molotov bombs at them. In the SsangYong plant, strikes ended on August 14 of that year, and after 77 days, production resumed.

Employees and analysts at the corporation have also accused SAIC of taking hybrid vehicle-related technology from the latter and of not investing as much as it had promised. SAIC refuted claims that its workers had stolen technology. However, when SAIC ordered and carried out the transfer of SsangYong's private technology produced with South Korean government financing over to SAIC researchers, it was accused by the South Korean prosecutor's office of breaking both business policies and South Korean law.

In 2010, General Motors stopped working with Daewoo Motor Sales. The longtime dealership partner then agreed to provide new cars for sale (particularly, the Rodius, Chairman W, and Chairman H) in exchange for an investment of 20,000,000,000 ($17.6 million) into the automaker still emerging from bankruptcy. As the agreement is non-exclusive, SsangYong will also sell cars through independent dealers.


Shares increased by 15% when the business announced in April 2010 that three to four domestic and overseas corporations were interested in buying SsangYong Motor Company. The firms were eventually identified as being South Korean Renault Samsung Motors, which is owned by France, Mahindra & Mahindra, Ruia Group, SM Aluminum, Seoul Investments, etc. Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd was selected as the preferred bidder for SsangYong in August 2010. The transaction cost Mahindra US$463.6 million and was finished in February 2011.

The Tivoli, SsangYong's first vehicle following the acquisition of Mahindra, was introduced in 2015. A year after Tivoli's debut, the business announced its first net profit in nine years. SsangYong sold 106,677 domestic units and 37,008 exported units in 2017, reaching a record high for domestic sales in the 14 years since 2003, when they were 131,283 units. Out of this, the Tivoli alone helped the firm sell more over 50,000 units domestically. Built on the Tivoli platform, the Mahindra XUV300 was subsequently introduced in 2019 and shares numerous components, including multiple metal sheets.

In order to develop high performance electric vehicles for broad market sales in South Korea, Mahindra also collaborated with its SsangYong subsidiary. The cooperation between Mahindra and SsangYong on engines and electric vehicles has strengthened.

SsangYong Motor filed for receivership on December 21, 2020, after Mahindra cut off funding to SsangYong owing to its outstanding debt. The business owes financial institutions a total of 315.3 billion won (US$285 million), according to a representative for Ssang Yong Motor.


It was announced in October 2021 that SsangYong would be bought by electric truck and bus manufacturer Edison Motors, allowing it to come out of receivership. By the middle of the 2020s, Edison Motors intended to release SsangYong automobiles in the markets of the United States, Mexico, and Canada. By 2030, Edison Motors also planned to stop making and selling new SsangYong vehicles that were powered by fossil fuels in favor of just creating and marketing electric vehicles, should it be bought by the latter. The Edison Motors takeover proposal was "authorized" by the South Korean courts in January 2022, although the business would remain under receivership until the deal was finalized. SsangYong said in March 2022 that Edison Motors' acquisition was terminated because it had missed that month's acquisition payments.

SsangYong and the Chinese company BYD Auto agreed to collaborate on the development of battery systems for the company's first electric vehicle (named the U100), which would be released in 2023, in December 2021.


The ultimate bidder to acquire SsangYong Motor, a consortium (KG Mobility) led by the KG Group, was chosen by the Seoul Bankruptcy Court in June 2022. For SsangYong, the consortium intended to spend 900 billion won ($699.5 million). The consortium's acquisition of KG Group's 61% controlling interest in SsangYong received approval from the South Korean Free Trade Commission in August 2022. Later that month, the acquisition payments were finished. The Seoul Bankruptcy Court approved SsangYong's receivership escape plan in September 2022, which included issuing new shares to compensate creditors.

Early in October, The KG Group planned to begin the procedure to end SsangYong's receivership and complete the acquisition procedure on (or before) October 14, the SsangYong selling date. Also, there were ideas to rename SsangYong. Despite several delays, the consortium began the receivership departure process on October 31 by asking the Seoul Bankruptcy Court to terminate the receivership. On November 11, the Court granted the receivership exit, completing the consortium's purchase.

SsangYong's chairman Kwak Jae-sun stated in December 2022 that the company intended to change the articles of organization in March 2023 in order to completely drop the "SsangYong" moniker. In an effort to change the firm's reputation and use the moniker "KG Mobility," the corporation was going to change its name.
In March 2023, the corporation changed its name to KG Mobility.


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