SsangYong Motor to rebrand as KG Mobility moving forward

The year 2020 was not nice to many carmakers, but for Korean carmaker SsangYong, it was an especially harrowing experience. During the height of the COVID pandemic, SsangYong defaulted on P2.6 billion loan payments and filed for court receivership at the end of 2020.

Last year, however, in 2022, prospects for SsangYong were starting to look bright. Despite a P13 billion deal with an Edison Motors-led consortium falling flat during negotiations, the brand was acquired by KG Group, a chaebol or conglomerate specializing in chemical and steel production.

Now, KG Group founder and chairman Kwak Jae-sun who is now also in the saddle of SsangYong is eager to leave SsangYong’s rocky past behind. In a report done by The Korea Times, Jae-sun will seek approval to rename the company KG mobility at a shareholders’ meeting this coming March.

KG Group’s acquisition of a 62% controlling stake at SsangYong allowed the carmaker to pull through a court-led 18-month debt restructuring in November 2022. In regards to SsangYong’s “painful image,” the company’s past two decades saw it undergoing two rounds of court receivership between a general lack of interest from buyers and unfavorable market conditions.

The Korea Times also reports that this name change could be the fourth time for the company and the first since 1998. SsangYong originally started out from two companies; Dongbang Motor Company and Ha Dong-hwan Motor Workshop. In 1963, the two companies merged to become Ha Dong-hwan Motor Co. later, it was renamed again in 1977 as Dong-A Motor. In 1986, Dong-A Motor was taken over by SsangYong Business Group, becoming what we know today as SsangYong Motor.