[Courtesy of KG Mobility]
Ssangyong Motor, which started business in South Korea as a small vehicle workshop founded by the late automotive titan Ha Dong-hwan in 1954, gained a reputation as the maker of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in the country with best-selling models such as full-sized SUVs Korando and Musso. The company also supplied SUVs as command vehicles for South Korea's military.
However, the company was acquired by various companies including China's SAIC Motor and India's Mahindra after the Asian Financial Crisis in the late 1990s before the company went through a corporate rehabilitation process to be acquired by KG Group which specializes in mechanical and chemical products in 2021.
KG Mobility said that the company's subsidiary "KG S&C" will be kick-started in April targeting the vehicle customizing and tuning market. KG S&C will release customizable and tuning parts for KG Mobility vehicles as well as provide engineering and customizing services for customers. KG Mobility will also begin a used car sales business in which the company will buy back secondhand KG Mobility vehicles, repair them, and sell the cars.
South Korea with very strong regulations on car tuning parts and customized vehicles started to loosen the leash during the last few years in a bid to beef up the country's domestic automotive market and related businesses. The transport ministry started by exempting some 30 regulations on tuning parts in 2019 and allowed drivers to customize their cars as long as the vehicles passed safety tests. The ministry also allowed pickup trucks, one-ton-class trucks, and 1.5-ton-class trucks to add exterior compartments to become camper trucks.
KG Mobility's New Rexton Sports Khan pickup truck released in 2019 is one of the pickup truck models favored by campers who wish to customize their trucks into camping vehicles. KG S&C will provide customizing services based on the pickup truck and other models so that customers can create special-purpose vehicles such as ambulances, emergency vehicles, and pickup tow trucks based on KG's SUVs.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
