ROK's Ssangyong Motor returns to Chinese market

Ssangyong Motor Co., the smallest automaker of the Republic of Korea (ROK), has re-entered the Chinese market with its new sport utility vehicle (SUV) two years after it halted exports to the country, Chinese authorities said Thursday. The first batch of 302 Ssangyong SUVs, including Kornando, Actyon and Rexton models, were shipped to the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin this week, a spokesman with the Tianjin Port Co., Ltd. said. The company opened its China headquarters in Shanghai earlier this year and designated two Chinese auto dealers for its sales in the country, the spokesman said. Ssangyong was affiliated with China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC) between 2004 and 2009, and began exporting SUVs to China in 2006. Then it entered bankruptcy protection in February 2009 after SAIC decided to disassociate itself from the company, which led to the halt of its SUV exports to China. Last year, Ssangyong agreed to sell its majority stake worth 460 million U.S. dollars to Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.