SsangYong Motor graduates from court-led debt rescheduling program

SsangYong Motor Co. said Friday it has graduated from the court-led debt rescheduling program nineteen months after it was placed under court receivership amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

SsangYong Motor applied for court receivership on April 15, 2021, after its Indian parent Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. failed to attract an investor due to its worsening financial status amid the pandemic.

The Seoul Bankruptcy Court approved SsangYong's debt payment plans in August after the court picked a local consortium led by chemical-to-steel firm KG Group as the final bidder to acquire the debt-laden company in June.

"The company has paid all the debts owed to financial institutions worth 351.7 billion won ($267 million) as scheduled under its rehabilitation plan," a company spokesman said.

SsangYong has undergone two rounds of court receivership in the past decade.

The China-based SAIC Motor Corp. acquired a 51 percent stake in SsangYong in 2004 but relinquished its control of the carmaker in 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis. SsangYong was placed under the court receivership in 2009.

In 2011, Mahindra acquired a 70 percent stake in SsangYong for 523 billion won and now holds a 74.65 percent stake in the carmaker.

Trading of SsangYong shares has been suspended since Dec. 21, 2020. KPMG Samjong declined to offer its opinion for its 2021 financial report due to snowballing losses. SsangYong has posted net losses for six consecutive years through 2021.

From January to October, SsangYong's sales jumped 40 percent to 93,344 vehicles from 66,603 units a year ago.

Its lineup consists of the Tivoli, Korando, Rexton and Rexton Sports SUVs. It launched the all-new Torres SUV in the domestic market in September and began to ship the model to Latin American countries, such as Chile.

As of Sept. 28, KG Group owns a 61.88 percent stake in SsangYong, with Mahindra holding a 10.15 percent stake and the remainder by others.