SsangYong Motor Company has been reborn as KG Mobility, heralding a “paradigm shift’ into new mobility technologies such as electric vehicles and artificial intelligence (AI).

KG Mobility’s headquarters in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi

The identity makeover follows the arrival of new owner KG Group and will help shed the “painful image” of the SsangYong name.

Founded in 1954 as Ha Dong-Hwan Motor Company, the company assumed the SsangYong name in 1988. After numerous investors, Mahindra and Mahindra took a controlling stake in 2010, but the business went into receivership in April 2021 after Mahindra failed to find a buyer for the debt-laden company and pulled funding.

In November 2022, South Korean chemical and steel company KG Group took a majority shareholding as part of its M&A expansion plans. It marks the group’s entrance into the automotive industry, with a particular focus on electrification.

A spokesperson for KG Mobility said: “We have changed our name after 35 years and have taken the first step towards change and development into a future mobility company. By focusing on the design and development of future vehicles utilising new technologies such as EV-dedicated platforms, software-defined vehicles, autonomous vehicles and AI etc, the company is really embracing change, and we will grow and develop as a proud and respected future automotive mobility partner.”

Kevin Griffin, managing director of SsangYong Motor UK, commented: “Whilst the last few years have been unsettled for SsangYong, the future is bright. The KG Group has accelerated early management normalisation by increasing sales and making profit. The future growth of the company will be based on a move towards electrification, starting with the successful international launch of the new Torres SUV model. With regards to the company change of name, we will confirm more detail around the impact to the UK in due course.”

Already on sale in Korea in petrol-engined form, the Torres midsize SUV is also launching as a fully electric EVX version. It will make its public debut at the 2023 Seoul Mobility Show on 30 March as one of 16 production vehicles and concepts, and debut in Europe towards the end of 2023.