SsangYong

History

The roots lie in a 1954 workshop that built buses and trucks from scrap in post war Korea and assembled Jeeps for the US Army from 1964. It became Dong-A Motor in 1977, the SsangYong Group bought it in 1986, and from 1988 it carried that name. SsangYong made its name with off roaders: Korando, Musso, Rexton. After Daewoo, SAIC and Mahindra, the company entered receivership at the end of 2020; the KG Group took over in 2022, and the SsangYong name was retired in March 2023.

EV strategy

The marque went electric only once: the Korando e-Motion arrived in 2022 as a spin off of the existing Korando, a year before the company became KG Mobility. Everything electric that came after already carries the new name. SsangYong therefore stands for the off roader years, not for the company's electric era.

Good to know

• Korando is a contraction of Korea can do.
• From 1991 SsangYong worked with Daimler-Benz on technology; the Musso, Rexton and the Chairman saloon used Mercedes engineering.
• SsangYong is Korean for twin dragons.
• The name was retired in March 2023 because it was seen as tarnished, and the company has been KG Mobility ever since.