KG Mobility

KG Mobility
Native name
케이지모빌리티 주식회사
Formerly
  • Ha Dong-hwan Motor Company
  • Dong-A Motor Company
  • SsangYong Motor Company
Company typePublic
KRX: 003620
IndustryAutomotive
Founded4 March 1954; 70 years ago (1954-03-04)
HeadquartersPyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea
Area served
Worldwide (except Japan and North America)
Key people
ProductsAutomobiles and commercial vehicles
Production output
Increase 119,142 (2012)
RevenueDecrease 2.874 trillion (2012)
Increase −₩98.12 billion (2012)
Increase −₩105.93 billion (2012)
Total assetsIncrease ₩1.85 trillion (2012)
Total equityDecrease ₩800.66 billion (2012)
Number of employees
4,365 (2012)
ParentKG ETS (KG Group)
Websitekg-mobility.com

The KG Mobility Corporation (Korean: 케이지모빌리티 주식회사), abbreviated as KGM, is a South Korea–based automobile manufacturer. It traces its origins back to a manufacturer established in 1954. The company was named SsangYong Motor Company in 1988, following its acquisition by the chaebol SsangYong Group in 1986. SsangYong Motor was then acquired by Daewoo Motors, SAIC Motor, and then Mahindra & Mahindra. In 2022, the company was acquired by the KG Group and adopted its present name in March 2023.

The company main focus is sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and crossover SUVs and it is preparing for transitioning to electric cars.

History

Dong-A Motor (1954–1987)

SsangYong originally started out as two separate companies; Ha Dong-hwan Motor Workshop (established in 1954) and Dongbang Motor Co (established in 1962). In mid-1963, the two companies merged into Ha Dong-hwan Motor Co. (Korean하동환자동차공업주식회사). In 1964, Hadonghwan Motor Company started building jeeps for the US Army as well as trucks and buses. Beginning in 1976, Hadonghwan produced a variety of special purpose vehicles. After changing its name to Dong-A Motor (Korean동아자동차공업주식회사) in 1977 and taking control of Keohwa in 1984, it was taken over by SsangYong Business Group in 1986.

Gallery

Keohwa (1981–1984)

Keohwa, Ltd. (Korean주식회사 거화; RRJusighoesa Geohwa) was a South Korean assembler of Jeeps under licence, mainly for export markets. Its predecessor was the Jeep assembly joint venture of Shinjin Motors and American Motor Corporation (AMC), established in 1974. It was spun off as an independent company in 1981, after AMC left the venture and retired the permission to use the Jeep trade mark. In 1983, Jeeps from Keohwa started to be named as "Korando". In 1984, Keohwa was acquired by the predecessor of SsangYong Motor, Dong-A Motor.

SsangYong Motors (1986–2023)

SsangYong logo

After Dong-A Motor was taken over by SsangYong Business Group, Dong-A Motor's name was changed to SsangYong Motor in 1988. In 1987, it acquired United Kingdom-based specialty car maker Panther Westwinds.

The Musso was a result of collaboration between SsangYong and Daimler-Benz

In 1991, SsangYong started a technology partnership with Daimler-Benz. The deal was for SsangYong to develop a sport utility vehicle (SUV) with Mercedes-Benz technology. This was supposedly to allow SsangYong to gain footholds in new markets without having to build their own infrastructure (utilizing existing Mercedes-Benz networks) while giving Mercedes a competitor in the then-booming SUV market. This resulted in the Musso, which was sold first by Mercedes-Benz and later by SsangYong.

SsangYong further benefited from this alliance, long after Daimler-Benz stopped selling the Musso, producing a badge engineered version of the Mercedes-Benz MB100, the Istana and using Daimler designs in many other models, including the second-generation Korando (engine and transmission), the Rexton (transmission), the Chairman H (chassis and transmission) and the Kyron (transmission).

Takeover by Daewoo Motors and SAIC

In 1997, Daewoo Motors, now GM Korea, bought a controlling stake from the SsangYong Group, only to sell it off again in 2000, because the conglomerate ran into deep financial troubles. In late 2004, the Chinese automobile manufacturer SAIC took a 51% stake of SsangYong Motor Company. In July - August 2006, workers went on strike for 7 weeks to protest SAIC's plans to lay off 554 employees. The strike cost SsangYong 380 billion Won and negotiations ended with workers accepting a wage freeze.

SsangYong's hybrid technology.

In January 2009, after recording a $75.42 million loss, the company was put into receivership. This may have been due to the global economic crisis and shrinking demand. In response to management's plan to cut 2,600 jobs, a third of the workforce, workers at Ssangyong's main factory stopped work and barricaded themselves inside in protest. One elderly worker died from a cerebral hemorrhage within the first 12 days. The strikes grew violent after water, food, electricity, and medicine were withheld from the strikers and police surrounded the building. Strikers threw Molotov cocktails at police while police used electroshock weapons and allegedly dropped corrosive chemicals on the strikers. On August 14, 2009, worker strikes finished at the SsangYong factory and production commenced again after 77 days of disruption. Company employees and analysts have also blamed SAIC for stealing technology related to hybrid vehicles from the company and failing to live up to its promise of continued investment. SAIC denied allegations of technology theft by the company's employees. However, SAIC was charged by the South Korean prosecutor's office for violating company regulations and the South Korean law when it ordered and carried out the transfer of SsangYong's proprietary technology developed with South Korean government funding over to SAIC researchers.

In 2010, Daewoo Motor Sales was dropped by General Motors. The long-time dealership partner then signed a deal with the SsangYong Motor Company to supply new vehicles to sell (specifically the Rodius, Chairman W and Chairman H), in return for the injection of 20,000,000,000 ($17.6 million) into the car maker still recovering from bankruptcy. The deal is non-exclusive, meaning SsangYong will also sell vehicles through private dealers.

Takeover by Mahindra Automotive

The Tivoli was SsangYong's first new model under Mahindra & Mahindra ownership
SsangYong's Rexton Sports pick-up

In April 2010, the company released a statement citing interest of three to four local and foreign companies in acquiring SsangYong Motor Company, resulting in shares rising by 15%. The companies were later revealed to be Mahindra & Mahindra, Ruia Group, SM Aluminum, Seoul Investments and French-owned Renault Samsung Motors of South Korea. In August 2010, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited was chosen as the preferred bidder for SsangYong. The acquisition was completed in February 2011 and cost Mahindra US$463.6 million.

In 2015, SsangYong and KB Capital established a joint venture as the financial affiliate of the former, with the name SY Auto Capital. SsangYong had a 51% stake of the venture and KB Capital a 49%. That year, the company launched the Tivoli, its first car after Mahindra acquisition. Within a year of Tivoli's launch, the company reported its first net profit in 9 years. In 2017, SsangYong sold 106,677 units in domestic sales and 37,008 units in exports, setting a record high in 14 years since 2003, when its annual domestic sales stood at 131,283 units. Out of this, the Tivoli alone contributed over 50,000 units of domestic sales for the company. Mahindra XUV300, which was later launched in 2019 is built on Tivoli's platform, sharing many parts including several metal sheets.

Mahindra also worked with its SsangYong subsidiary to introduce high performance electric vehicles in South Korea for mass-market sales. Mahindra and SsangYong increased their collaboration on engines and electric cars.

On 21 December 2020, SsangYong Motor filed for receivership after Mahindra cut funding to SsangYong due to its outstanding debt. Ssang Yong Motor spokesperson stated that the company owes a total of 315.3 billion won (US$285 million) in overdue debt to financial institutions.

Failed takeover by Edison Motors

In October 2021, it was reported that SsangYong was set to be acquired by electric bus and truck maker Edison Motors which would lead to SsangYong exiting receivership. Edison Motors planned to introduce SsangYong vehicles into the United States, Mexico, and Canada markets by the mid-2020s. Edison Motors also intended to phase-out production and new car sales of fossil fuel-powered SsangYong vehicles by 2030, in favor of producing and selling only electric-powered vehicles by the latter, if acquired. In January 2022, the South Korean courts "approved" Edison Motors' acquisition plan, although the company would be kept in receivership until the transaction were completed. In March 2022, SsangYong said the Edison Motors takeover was cancelled as the latter failed making acquisition payments for that month.

In December 2021, SsangYong signed an agreement with the Chinese BYD Auto to co-develop battery systems for its first electric car (called U100) which would be launched in 2023.

Takeover by the KG Group

In June 2022, the Seoul Bankruptcy Court opted for a consortium (KG Mobility) led by the KG Group as the final bidder to take over SsangYong Motor. The consortium planned to pay 900 billion won ($699.5 million) for SsangYong. In August 2022, South Korea's Free Trade Commission approved KG Group acquisition of a 61% majority stake in SsangYong through the consortium. The acquisition payments were completed later that month. In September 2022, the Seoul Bankruptcy Court agreed to SsangYong's receivership exit plan, including issuing new shares in order to pay the creditors. The KG Group was set to start the process to exit SsangYong's receivership in early October and finish the acquisition process on (or before) 14 October, the SsangYong sale deadline. There also were plans to rename SsangYong. After delays, the consortium started the receivership exit procedures on 31 October by requesting the receivership termination to the Seoul Bankruptcy Court. The Court approved the receivership exit on 11 November, finalising the consortium's acquisition.

In December 2022, SsangYong's chairman Kwak Jae-sun said it planned to remove the "SsangYong" name entirely in March 2023 by modifying the articles of association. The company was set to be renamed as "KG Mobility", adopting a new branding and using KG as its marque, to avoid the negative perception of the present name, bypassing its "painful image".

KG Mobility (2023–present)

The company adopted the name KG Mobility in March 2023. As the company was renamed, its financial affiliate, SY Auto Capital, was also renamed as KG Capital. In May 2023, KG Group's KG Inicis acquired the 49% KG Capital stake hold by KB Capital and 6% of KG Mobility's share, leaving the latter with a 45% and KG Inicis with a 55%.

The company is developing plans to use technology to gain competitivity on various market segments (especially electric) and enter less developed overseas markets with potential growth (such as Africa, Southeast Asia, South America or the Middle East) to expand its sales base. In 2022, the company signed a knock-down kit (KD) assembly contract with the Saudi National Automotive Manufacturing Company. In January 2023, it signed another KD contract with NGT, a company from the United Arab Emirates. In March 2023, a third with Vietnamese Kim Long Motors.

In March 2023, KG Mobility launched a bid to acquire receivership-bound Edison Motors. In May, it was selected as the preferred bidder. In June, it was reported that SsangYong would be relaunched in Europe under the name KGM, with the cars continuing to wear SsangYong's dragon wing logo on the front. It is thought that the first KGM car in Europe will be a facelifted version of the SsangYong Tivoli, with their range of SUVs being rebranded soon after.

In April 2023, KG Mobility launched KG S&C, a vehicle parts and conversion division.

End of November 2023, it was announced that the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) had rejected the application to register the brand name because it had already been registered in around 30 countries by Cihan Turan. This company is known as a trademark troll. This refers to the registration of brand names without the intention of actually using them, but only in order to exploit the rights and collect the corresponding payments. KG Mobility has appealed against this decision and will continue to use the KGM name in overseas markets until further notice.

On 23 October 2023, The Covenant Car Company, Inc. (TCCCI) has entered the distribution rights of KG Mobility brand in the Philippines and was officially launched on 20 November 2023 with five new models: Tivoli, Tivoli Grand, Torres, Rexton and Musso Grand.

Corporate

Ownership

By April 2023, the controlling shareholder of KG Mobility was KG Mobility Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of KG ETS (a KG Group affiliate). In August 2023, KG Mobility Holdings was merged into KG ETS, making KG Mobility a direct subsidiary of the latter. KG ETS holds a 58.84% of KG Mobility and it cannot sell its stake to third parties until April 2026.

Facilities

Offices

  • Head Office - The Head office located in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. R&D Centre, Design Centre, and other departments are located in the Pyeongtaek office
  • Seoul Office - Department under Head office is located in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul

Factories

  • Pyeongtaek Plant (South Korea) - Main factory. Produces a complete range.
  • Changwon Plant (South Korea) - Engine and parts factory.

The present main (assembly) site is located in Pyeongtaek's Chilgoe neighbourhood and was built in 1979. The whole site (including surrounding land) covers 850,000 m2 (9,100,000 sq ft) and also includes the aforementioned headquarters and research and development buildings. In 2021, the company started the review process to move the factory elsewhere. In September 2023, it said it plans to sell the present site's land to finance the construction of a new factory in the Pyeongtaek city area, which is set to start in 2024. The new factory is set to have capacity to assemble up to 300,000 vehicles per year in a more integrated way (avoiding the production bottlenecks of the present, older style facility).The new factory would be fully operational by 2028.

Current model lineup

Name Production Notes Image
SUVs
KGM Rexton 2001–present Formally the SsangYong Rexton. 2nd generation (Y400); also known as G4 Rexton in some market or Mahindra Alturas G4 in India
KGM Tivoli 2015–present Formally the SsangYong Tivoli. SsangYong's first new model under Mahindra & Mahindra ownership
KGM Tivoli XLV 2016–present Formally the SsangYong Tivoli XLV. Extended version of the Tivoli; also known as Tivoli Air in South Korea.
KGM Torres 2022–present Formally the SsangYong Torres. Mid-sized SUV that replaced Kyron.
KGM Korando 1983–2006,
2010–present
Formally the SsangYong Korando. Replaced by the Actyon, revived in late 2010, replaced by the C300 in 2019
Pickup trucks
KGM Musso (Pickup) 2018–present Formally the SsangYong Musso Pick-up. Replaced the Actyon Sports; also known as Rexton Sports in South Korea

KGM Commercial Smart - Electric Bus, Formerly from Edison Motors

Former SsangYong model lineup

Name Production Notes Image
SUVs
Actyon 2006–2016 Replaced the old Korando
Kyron 2005–2014 SsangYong's first model under SAIC ownership
Musso 1993–2005 Replaced by the Kyron
Korando Family 1988–1995 Based on the Isuzu Trooper
Pickup trucks
Musso Sports 2002–2005 Replaced by the Actyon Sports
Actyon Sports 2006–2018 Replaced the Musso Sports; also known as Korando Sports from 2012
Vans
Istana 1995–2003 Badge Engineered variant of the Mercedes-Benz MB100
Rodius/Stavic 2004–2019 Also known as Korando Turismo in South Korea.
Luxury cars
Chairman W 2008–2017 Was sold alongside the Chairman H
Chairman H 1997–2014 Based on the Mercedes-Benz E-Class (W210)
Kallista 1992 Rebadged Panther Kallista
Trucks and Buses
DA Truck Based on Nissan Diesel Truck
SY Truck Based on Mercedes-Benz SK
Transstar Based on Mercedes-Benz buses

This page was last updated at 2024-03-24 00:30 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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