SsangYong plans name change to escape 'painful image'

SEOUL: South Korea's oldest carmaker SsangYong Motor plans to change its name to KG Mobility in order to shed what its chairman has called "a painful image".

The brand, whose name means "double dragon", has had a tumultuous history in recent decades, with four different owners since 1986.

The rebranding is aimed at underlining the carmaker's strengths in the future, said KG Group chairman Kwak Jea-sun, in comments carried by Korean media.

"The name - SsangYong Motor - has a fandom with good memories, but it also has a painful image," Kwak said at an event held by the Korea Automobile Journalists Association at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul in early January.

The carmaker needs shareholder approval in March to change its name to KG officially and to mark the end of SsangYong Motor's 35-year-old name.

Despite its tribulations in recent years, SsangYong has managed to launch the electric version of the Korando, dubbed the e-Motion, and the Musso electric ute, in its home market.

The oddly-styled SsangYong Rodius, built until 2019, recently won a slot in a poll of the 10 world's ugliest cars of all time in Germany's Franfurter Rundschau newspaper. Other contenders included the defunct Fiat Multipla and Audi A2.

Kwak, who said the name change was an extremely difficult decision, said there was a need for a complete overhaul, including the brand logo and corporate identity. "It would be convenient to just take out ‘Motor,’ but we will change everything," he said.

"From now, all SsangYong cars will come out to the world under the name of KG. Even with the name change, SsangYong Motor’s history will not change and (the carmaker) will have the same conditions," he added.

The report said the new name appears to mark the leadership’s willingness to turn the carmaker into a mobility firm that extends beyond traditional car manufacturing and includes more electric vehicles along with autonomous driving.

KG Group, a chemical and steel company, acquired a 61.86% stake in SsangYong Motor to become its largest shareholder after Seoul's Bankruptcy Court approved the carmaker’s corporate rehabilitation plan in August.

SsangYong Motor first started out as Ha Dong-Hwan Motor workshop in 1954 and used the names Shinjin Motor and Dong-A Motor between 1967 and 1986.