Ssangyong not only has a new owner, but a new product on the horizon.
A year ago, Ssangyong Motor was declared bankrupt and South Korean courts gave the all clear for it to be sold to a new owner. For some time, the company was reviewing potential suitors and by October 2021, it was clear that Edison Motors Consortium emerged as the preferred bidder. All seemed well, with steady progress through January 2022 when the Investment contract for the Merger & Acquisition was signed. However, by the end of March 2022, Ssangyong declared that the deal had fallen through after Edison failed to deposit the balance of what was owed for the takeover.
Ssangyong now says that KG Consortium (led by Korean steel and chemical giant, KG Group) is most likely to take over ownership of the company.
Ssangyong also stated that things were improving at the company, with a new EV product for sale through their collaboration with BYD and a new CKD operation in Saudi Arabia. They were also on track to launch a new ‘J100’ SUV this month. The J100 was initially rumoured to be an electric vehicle, but now as the product has officially been unveiled a couple of things are clearer.
The first is that it will be sold domestically at first as the Ssangyong Torres – a new nameplate for the South Korean car company. The second thing is that it will initially be available with a traditional ICE powertrain – a 1.5-litre turbocharged four cylinder motor capable of 168 hp and 280Nm of torque. This motor can send power to the front wheels or all four wheels via a 6-speed conventional automatic transmission sourced from Aisin.
The Torres is positioned above the Ssangyong Korando and fittingly has a larger boot with up to 839L of space available. Standard features include:
- 17-inch alloy wheels with 225/60R tires
- side mirrors with LED turn signal lamp, auto-folding, heating and power adjustment
- Full LED exterior lighting
- Aero blade wiper
- rear spoiler
- high-gloss A-pillar
- acoustic windshield glass
- tinted door glass
- front and rear skid plates
- cosmetic roof rack
- 3-split wide digital instrument cluster
- electronic parking brake
- 4 USB ports
- rear air vent
- leather transmission knob
- artificial leather upholstery
- manual tilting telescopic steering wheel
- paddle shifters
- full auto air conditioning
- 8-inch buttonless integrated control panel
- ESP (ARP & HAS & ESS)
- 7 airbags (front, side, curtain, farside)
- TPMS and tire repair kit
- rear parking assistance warning
- front vehicle departure warning (FVSW)
- emergency braking assistance (AEB)
- Forward Collision Warning (FCW)
- Lane Departure Warning (LDW)
- Lane Keeping Assist (LKA)
- Careless Driving Warning (DAW)
- Safe Distance Warning (SDW)
- Multiple Collision Avoidance System
- Front Seat Belt Pretensioner & Load Limiter ( 2nd row center excluded)
- emergency escape kit
- 12.3-inch Infotainment with 6 speakers
Options include:
- safety sunroof
- knee airbag
- side step
- side storage box
- two-tone paintwork
- interior colour choices (brown or khaki)
- natural leather seat package
- smart tailgate
- 18-inch or 20-inch alloy wheels
- LED fog lights
- solar control glass
- ambient lighting
- 2nd row sunshades
- ventilated seat, driver’s seat 8way power seat, driver’s seat lumbar support, 2nd row heated seat
- Smart Key
- wireless Qi charging
It is priced from 26,900,000 South Korean won (roughly RM92,000).
