SsangYong Motor to be renamed KG Mobility: new chairman

SsangYong Motor Co. will operate under a new name, KG Mobility, its new chief has said, in a move signaling a new chapter in the company's decadeslong history marked by long restructuring efforts.

Kwak Jea-sun, new chairman of SsangYong Motor, said he will seek approval for the proposed name change at a shareholders' meeting in March next year.

"The name, SsangYong Motor, has a fandom, but also has a painful image. SsangYong's new cars will come out in the world as 'KG,' and its history will not change and have the same conditions," Kwak said at an event hosted by the Korea Automobile Journalists Association on Wednesday.

Kwak is the chairman of KG Group, a chemical-to-steel company that led a consortium that acquired a 62-percent stake in SsangYong following court approval of its debt rescheduling plans in August.

KG Group's takeover of SsangYong helped the carmaker exit the court-led, 18-month debt restructuring in November. SsangYong underwent two previous rounds of court receivership over the past two decades amid a lack of interest from buyers and unfavorable market conditions.

It will mark the first name change for SsangYong since 1998. SsangYong started in 1954 under a different name, before being renamed Dong-A Motor in 1977 and Ssangyong in 1986 upon the takeover by the now-dismantled SsangYong Group. (Yonhap)