Ssangyong Ditches 30-year-old Name; To Be Called KG Mobility To Fix ‘Image’ After Bankruptcy

• Ssangyong Motor will be renamed ‘KG Mobility’ by the new owner. 

• The move is intended to change the carmaker’s ‘image’ for investors and car buyers. 

• KG Mobility has new vehicles in the pipeline, including the Torres SUV due in 2023. 

Korean carmaker Ssangyong is a familiar name in India because of Mahindra’s decade-long ownership of the brand. After the Indian carmaker quit as the majority owner, Ssangyong was acquired by Korea-based KG Group in 2022. Now, it’ll be renamed ‘KG Mobility’, ditching the Ssangyong name that’s been associated with the carmaker for over three decades since 1986, to fix the image after the company’s troubles. 

Why is the Ssangyong name being changed? 

By ‘painful image’, the carmaker’s new chairman Jea-Sun Kwak is probably referring to the carmaker’s messy divorce with Mahindra and the image it created in the eyes of investors and car buyers. In 2020, Mahindra had cut funding to the Korean carmaker due to outstanding debts. Ssangyong had filed for receivership, essentially a form of bankruptcy in Korea, following which it began the search for a new owner. 

Later in 2022, it found Edison Motors, but the Korea-based bus maker subsequently backed out. KG Group, an industrial conglomerate in South Korea, stepped in to save Ssangyong and is the current owner of the carmaker. 

The Mahindra Alturas G4 was a Ssangyong model

It’s looking to change Ssangyong’s name to KG Mobility, but the change will have to be approved by the investors and should be finalised in March 2023. 

Future Ssangyong products 

Ssangyong had several concept vehicles in the works before the 2020 turmoil. It now plans to introduce the Torres SUV in 2023 in select overseas markets, followed by an electric SUV in 2024.

• Mahindra Alturas G4 Discontinued In India, XUV700 To Be SUV Maker’s Flagship For Now

• The SsangYong X200 Sketch Looks Like A Jimny-Wrangler Mashup

The KG Group likely has big plans for Ssangyong, and given the name change, it could move towards becoming a mobility company instead of solely focusing on cars and SUVs.