SsangYong, South Korea’s oldest automaker, was acquired by KG Group last year and its new owners are planning a name change. Later this year, the manufacturer will change its name to KG Mobility and all of its products will receive the new KG logo. The information was confirmed earlier this week by the chairman of KG Group, Kwak Jea-sun.
“The name – SsangYong Motor – has a fandom with good memories, but it also has a painful image,” Kwak told media representatives at an event held by the Korea Association of Automotive Journalists in Seoul. “From now on, all SsangYong cars will come out into the world under the KG name. Despite changing the name, the history of SsangYong Motor will not change and [the automaker] will have the same condition.”
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SsangYong traces its origins to the automaker originally founded in 1954, but the SsangYong name first appeared in the late 1980s. The South Korean automaker was later acquired by Daewoo, followed by holdings from China’s SAIC Motor and India’s Mahindra & Mahindra. Most recently, KG Group became the owner of the brand last year. The name change must be approved by the shareholders at a meeting in March this year.
If the change gets the green light, it will also be backed by a thorough marketing overhaul of the marque, including the brand logo and corporate identity. The current company name has been in use for the past 35 years and Kwak admits changing the name was a very difficult decision. Based on Korean newsthe new name KG Mobility may signal a potential shift in SsangYong’s business strategy from a traditional automaker to a mobility company.
It will be interesting to see if the name change will be accompanied by an overhaul of the product portfolio and if SsangYong’s ambitions will go global. Currently, the brand sells vehicles in South Korea, Australia, Europe and several other markets. Recently, the Torres SUV was introduced as a new addition to the South Korean model lineup.
