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| Can SsangYong find its way out of the woods? |
SsangYong has had a turbulent life trying to remain solvent, so putting money into the company in the hope it will succeed has to be seen as a risk. Sales remain far short of where they need to be and efforts to export have been largely unfruitful. For2020, domestic sales accounted for 82% of the total number.
Ssangyong vehicles are quite popular here in NZ, but a pattern seems to be a sales push, followed by a downturn in sales. The probable cause is the cars are initially priced competitively and sell reasonably well but when the prices are increased, the buyers go elsewhere. Surely Hyundai could take even a small stake in the company and assist them.
Mahindra and Mahindra is the majority shareholder in Ssangyong and had said it would invest $423 million in anticipation of making SsangYong profitable by 2022. However, other economic events have led M & M to give just $32.34 million to meet business running costs and told SsangYong to find alternative ways to raise the capital it needs. M & M has since said it would be happy to relinquish its ownership stake in the company.
The Actyon Sport pick-up leads the way, ahead of three SUVs. All of the above compete in growing segments of the global market so that has to be a good thing. The Rodius/Turismo MPV ended sales in the middle of 2019 according to the official sales data released by SsangYong. Below, the list has a '+/- Diff' column showing only the Korando managed to increase. The year was a tough one for all manufacturers but especially for one already struggling.
Data source: SsangYong.
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