Indian Autos blog

Rebuilding Ssangyong’s image:

Mahindra is planning to revive the lost image of its Korean brand Ssangyong in one of the world’s biggest car markets, China.

Ssangyong was earlier owned by the Chinese company SAIC Motor Corp when it filed for bankruptcy. Mahindra took over the firm by acquiring a 70% stake in the shares. It started importing Ssangyong vehicles into China last year but has not met targets due to the negative image that the brand has gained under its previous owners.

When Mahindra launched the Thar in India, they gave vents for the Air conditioner but it did not come with an AC unit inside. The AC vents made sure that those customers who wanted to fit an AC can do it aftermarket. However, the Indian SUV Czar has finally launched a factory fitted Mahindra Thar at a price of is priced at Rs 6.86 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi)

The AC unit is only available on the CRDe models and not on the ones that are powered by the Di engine. The company has also address the security concerns by fitting an engine immobilizer. Unfortunately, the Thar still does not get a hard top which might work against the cooling of the AC.

The Thar CRDe 4×4 is powered by a 2.5 litre CRDe engine that generates 105 bhp and torque of 247 Nm. The engine is mated to a 5-speed transmission, with a 2-speed four-wheel transfer case. The Mahindra Thar is a very niche product and adding more essential features will only make it a more attractive buy.

Team Mahindra is doing what it takes to make sure that Ssangyong becomes an integral part of the Mahindra Automotive group. News has flown in from the Mahindra-Ssangyong camp that the Korean manufacturer in looking at making India its hub for manufacturing.

In order to do so, the company is planning to spend a kitty of over $1.2 billion in the next three to five years.

The new plant will help Ssangyong to launch 4 new cars and their multiple variants in the Indian car market. Even exporting the cars around the globe is on the charts.

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Mahindra may be king of the hill when it comes to SUVs in India with their highly versatile portfolio starting from the agrarian Mahindra Bolero Pick up to highly polished XUV500 but the very hungry king back in November 2010, the Indian SUV Kingpin bought 70% stake in Korean SUV maker Ssangyong for a massive Rs 2,100 crore.

The Ssangyong Rexton will be launched in the next six months followed by the Korando C.

Now that the acquisition in complete, M&M has already started work on products that will be used by both Mahindra and Ssangyong. Both companies are working on two platforms – one in India and another in Korea. The two platforms will be housing SUV bodies as that is the core competency of both the companies. The first product should be out by 2015.

SMC’s portfolio consists of a luxury sedan, four SUVs and a multipurpose vehicle. Rexton, an SMC product, will be launched in India in the next six months followed by Korando C. M&M is setting up an assembly line at its plant in Chakan, Pune, to roll out SMC products. SMC products will be marketed in India through M&M’s existing retail outlets.

SMC is keen on expanding in emerging markets, like India, Russia and China. As a result, M&M is also considering commencing assembly operations for SMC products in Brazil, Russia and China in two years.

Generally here at IAB, we cover on stories pertinent to Indian context. Hence, the whole SAAB debacle was not at all covered by us. But some interesting development has made us turn our heads and take notice. Mahindra&Mahindra is now in private talks with the Swedish manufacturer to buy some parts of the company according to reports in the media.

Essentially, General Motors, the once big daddy of the automotive world, went bankrupt as soon as the recession struck United States. The company filed for bankruptcy and had to re-organize itself to come out of the red. As part of the re-organization plans, several brands owned by the company such as Hummer and Saab were to be hived off.

Saab 9-5 SportCombi © Saab Automobile AB

Saab had several offers from Chinese companies such as Youngman and Pang Da, but repeated cash flow delays and vetos from GM squashed that deal before it could get off of the ground. Finally, on 19^th December SAAB filed for bankruptcy and has been in the process of selling off its business.

However, there is a twist to the story. Mahindra is not entirely interested in SAAB, but only interested in some parts of it. Saab’s most desirable assets would be its manufacturing capabilities, tooling and in-house technology.

With high growth in the South East Asian markets such as Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, M&M has reportedly decided to establish an assembly plant in one of those countries. According to reports, the assembly plant is likely to offer products ranging from M&M’s utility vehicles to pick-ups, Ssangyong SUVs, Mahindra tractors, along with products from Chinese tractor joint ventures Jiangling & Yeuda Tractors.

Currently, M&M exports vehicles to that region and is aiming to expand to other markets in ASEAN countries.

Pravin Shah, chief executive, international operations, automotive & farm equipment sectors commented,

SEA markets are important, big markets for M&M’s overseas growth and for expanding our global presence. We are at present in talks with various parties and evaluating the various possibilities for setting up base with appropriate business model.

The market size for utility vehicles and pick-ups in ASEAN markets is more than 700,000 units per annum and for tractors is more than 55,000 units. Mahindra, a specialist in both of them, cannot afford to let this opportunity walk by.

The new plant is likely to come up in next couple of years.

Source: EconomicTimes.IndiaTimes.com

Ssangyong Motors has recorded the highest monthly sales in its 25 year history. This comes on the back of the best H1 sales since 2007.

The Ssangyong Business Group acquired an automotive business called Dong-A Motor in 1986 and changed its name to Ssangyong Motors. For about 23 years, the company maintained a low key image, till things got nasty after a series of labor strikes and bankruptcy crumpled the company. The tainted image outposed some of the oddball designs it has cooked up over the last few years.

In 2010, Mahindra acquired 70% stake in the company and things started falling in place.

Last month Ssangyong sold 10,763 cars of which 3,506 cars were sold in Korea while the remaining 7,257 cars were exported. The figure represents a growth of 46% over the same period in 2010.

The Korando C is a hot cake and demand from Russia and Latin America have catapulted overseas shipment by 57% compared to last year. A 28% growth in the domestic market is credited to a stronger dealer network.

Ssangyong plans to provide potential customers with a first-hand experience of its products signifying the high confidence level it has on them. It also plans to expand its portfolio with more utility vehicles and variants of its existing range.

With a commercial vehicle wing rich in creativity and products, Mahindra has launched yet another vehicle that will make you sit up and take notice – a dual cab Genio which is aimed at small and medium entrepreneurs. We thought the dual cab Genio was just a Genio with rear seats. Turns out that’s just the beginning.

Priced at Rs. 5.46 lakh (ex-showroom Karnataka, BS3) for the base version the 1,100 kg payload Genio dual cab has features like 2 din Music System, Air conditioner, Power Windows, central locking, keyless entry, door trims for housing bottles and magazines and immobilizer that commercial vehicles are denied of.

Radial tubeless tyres, brake force distribution, Oil change interval of 20,000 km, ELR seat belts and electronic headlamp leveling device are some other interesting and thoughtful features on the pickup.

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