Ssangyong never had calm years. With the exception of Rexton, the successful and experienced 4×4 vehicle, none of the company’s models became a sales star – and the debts increased considerably. At the beginning of the year, it seemed that the South Korean company Edison Motors was throwing it a lifeline, but the deal did not materialize. Finally, a few months later, the KG Group (a South Korean chemical and steel company) lent a helping hand, and here SsangYong reports that it has paid off its debts thanks to the purchase by the KG Group.
According to people close to the brand, Ssangyong fans (there are some) can look to the future with high confidence. And this future, unsurprisingly, revolves around electric drive systems, as it became clear last summer. Among other things, Ssangyong revealed the torus, an off-road vehicle that bolts between the Coronado and the Rexton. There will also be an electric version of the Tour, which will be available in Europe as early as next year, and perhaps from there we will see a resurgence of Ssangyong in Israel as well. Torres is the second electric model in the range, next to the Korando e-Motion (actually an existing vehicle on a previous platform that was fitted with an electric system).
Behind the scenes, Ssangyong is working on a third off-road vehicle, which may eventually replace the Coronado. Blueprints of it were released earlier this year and according to Ssangyong it is now called the X200. The company notes that most of the attention is of course devoted to electric cars, and there is a more than likely chance that almost all models will be developed with the help of the Chinese company BYD, which donates the advanced Blade batteries that sharply reduce production costs, and also provide a useful driving range.
Evidence that Ssangyong is here to stay also lies in the latest figures published in Korea. Ssangyong said on Tuesday that its sales nearly tripled last month from a year earlier, thanks to increased demand in South Korea and abroad. The company sold 13,156 vehicles in October, a steep jump from 4,749 units a year earlier despite a prolonged global shortage of chips and conductors, it reported on Friday.
Domestic sales of Ssangyong vehicles more than doubled to 7,850 units last month from 3,279 in the same period last year, while exports more than tripled to 5,306 units from 1,470 during the same period. From January to October, sales climbed 40% to 93,344 cars compared to 66,603 units a year ago. SsangYong’s full model lineup is very condensed at the moment: small and large SUVs, starting with the Jeep Tivoli, the medium-sized Korendo and, as mentioned, the Rexton.
Ssangyong is represented in Israel by Telecar. Today, the company markets the Rexton, which starts at NIS 253,000, and the updated Corona, which starts at NIS 155,000. In the last two years, about 800 Ssangyong vehicles were sold in Israel.
The Israel Police is replacing Kia Sorento vehicles with Ssangyong Rexton 4×4