The oldest car manufacturer in South Korea could change names after more than three decades. ssangyong engine It was acquired by KG Group last year and its new owner has future plans for the brand, including a revamp of its identity that would include a name change. They only need one requirement to formalize it.
SsangYong Motor was born in 1954 as the workshop of Ha Dong-Hwan Motor. Since 1967 they used the names of Shinjin Motor and Dong-A Motor, but everything changed in 1986: it was when the now defunct SsangYong Group acquired the company and it became SsangYong Motor. This is how it has been present in the market ever since and, despite all the changes in ownership, it has managed to maintain its niche in the market: especially in the SUV market.
KG Group: the last owner
Several have been the different owners of SsangYong Motor: Daewoo Group (1998), the Chinese group Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) and Mahindra. They are now joined by KG Group. This chemical and steel company acquired, in 2022, a 61.86% stake with which it became its largest shareholder and prevented the liquidation of the South Korean manufacturer.
as it points The Korea Herald, Kwak Jea-sun (President of KG Group) confirmed his intentions at an event organized, in Seoul, by the Association of Automobile Journalists of Korea. If everything goes according to plan, SsangYong will change its name to KG Mobility “to maximize strengths in the future.”
The KG Group Chairman has admitted that the name change was an extremely difficult decision: “It has good memories associated with it, but it also has a painful image. The best thing to do would be to simply remove the word ‘Motor’, but we’ll change everything. All SsangYong models will go out into the world under the name of KG. Even if it changes its name, the history of the brand will not change and it will have the same conditions”.
The final decision: in March
For the new owners, SsangYong needs a complete revision that goes from the emblem to the corporate identity through the name. This latest change is planned for the end of the year, but the KG Group needs the approval of the general meeting of shareholders which will be held in March. When it becomes official, SsangYong Motor will cease to be SsangYong Motor after 36 years under that name.
For the motor world, this strategy indicates the intentions of the KG Group: to turn SsangYong into a total mobility company, which goes beyond traditional car manufacturing. to focus on both electric vehicles and autonomous driving from the future.
