Rebrand looms for marque
SsangYong Motor is approaching the end of an era as it prepares to change its name to KG Mobility this year.
The decision was taken by KG Group, which owns the majority stake in SsangYong, as the carmaker emerges from a period of financial difficulties that led to its recent bankruptcy
Kwak Jea-sun, KG Group chairman, says: “The name – SsangYong Motor – has a fandom with good memories, but it also has a painful image.
“From now, all SsangYong cars will come out to the world under the name of KG. Even with the name change, SsangYong Motor’s history will not change and [the carmaker] will have the same conditions.”
He made the announcement during an event held by the Korea Automobile Journalists Association in Seoul on January 4.
Official approval to change the name, which has been in place for 35 years, will be voted on at SsangYong’s general shareholders’ meeting in March.
As Korea’s oldest automobile manufacturer, SsangYong Motor began as Ha Dong-Hwan Motor workshop in 1954, reports the Korea Herald.
The company used the names of Shinjin Motor and Dong-A Motor between 1967 and 1986. It became SsangYong Motor when the now-defunct SsangYong Group acquired it in 1986.
KG Group, a chemical and steel company, acquired a 61.86 per cent stake in SsangYong Motor to become its largest shareholder after Seoul Bankruptcy Court approved the carmaker’s corporate rehabilitation plan in August last year.
