Mahindra to unload SsangYong – report

Indian car maker Mahindra is looking to unload its 75 per cent share of SsangYong – South Korea’s fourth-largest vehicle producer – amid declining profits during the global coronavirus pandemic.

“SsangYong needs a new investor. We are working with the company to see if we can secure investment,” Mahindra’s managing director Pawan Kumar Goenka told Automotive News Europe.

The sell-off is part of Mahindra’s wider restructuring plan stemming from the coronavirus crisis, that will see the Indian car giant cut costs and review all of its “money-losing businesses” in the next year, reported Automotive News Europe.

Above: Mahindra Pik-Up

“If a new investor comes on board, that automatically takes our stake down, or they may even buy our stake," Mahindra’s deputy managing director Anish Shah was quoted by the industry journal as saying.

Mahindra bought its controlling stake in the struggling SsangYong brand in 2010, however has been unable to turn the Korean car maker around.

Automotive News Europe makes no mention of investor interest at this stage.

In Australia, the SsangYong brand currently sells five models – the Korando, Musso, Rexton, Tivoli and Tivoli XLV – and holds a 0.01 per cent market share for new-car sales so far this year.

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