SsangYong Australia: "No plans" to follow KG Mobility rebrand, despite overseas move

UPDATE: "No plans" for Ssangyong to become KG Mobility in Australia

Ssangyong Australia has confirmed it still has no plans to rebrand locally, following the decision to become KG Mobility in its South Korean home market.

"We will continue as SsangYong Australia for the foreseeable future with no plans to rebrand at this stage," said a spokesperson for the brand.

In April, SsangYong Motor Company announced it would update its corporate name and identity to KG Mobility, after KG Group acquired the carmaker in November 2022.

In Korea, the Tivoli small SUV has been updated, now known as the KG Mobility Tivoli, with Ssangyong lettering removed. However, it continues to be marketed as a Ssangyong in Europe.

Our earlier story, below, continues unchanged.

Jordan Hickey

April 1: SsangYong Motor Company confirms rebrand to KG Mobility

SsangYong Motor Company, hailing from South Korea, confirmed the transformation of its corporate name and identity to KG Mobility, at a shareholders meeting in its native Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.

The future growth of the company will be based on a move towards electrification, starting with the international launch of the brand's new electric Torres SUV model."

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... with regards to the company change of name, we will confirm more detail around the impact to the UK in due course".

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When asked what the change in identity means for Australia, a local spokesperson for SsangYong said: "Initial commentary about the name change is focused on the domestic [Korean] market, the impact on overseas markets will be known in late April."

SsangYong Motor Company was first established in 1954 as Ha Dong-Hwan Motor Company. The name SsangYong appeared in 1988 and after numerous investors, Mahindra and Mahindra took a controlling stake in 2010.

In November of 2022, its majority shareholding was acquired by the KG Group - a large industrial conglomerate formed in 2003 by SsangYong CEO, Kwak Jae-Sun, initially dealing in chemicals and fertiliser.

In subsequent years, through numerous mergers and acquisitions, Chairman Kwak built up a loose and complex, but extremely powerful and profitable group of KG ("Korean Green") companies, the largest of which include its core KG Chemical company, as well as KG Steel (which turned over AU$3.8 billion in 2021 revenue).

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As a family-owned company, KG Group, and its stakeholders, are considered to be among South Korea's ultra-wealthy and powerful Chaebol.

Looking to the future, KG Mobility plans to focus on new mobility technologies such as EV-dedicated platforms, software-defined vehicles (SDV), autonomous vehicles and AI in line with the paradigm shift. 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 using 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."

Stay tuned for more news as it breaks.