Published : Nov. 17, 2013 - 19:42
Mahindra & Mahindra, the largest shareholder of Ssangyong Motors, reaffirmed its support for the carmaker at a meeting with lawmakers from Korea’s opposition political parties, stressing that Ssangyong will invest up to 1 trillion won ($940.9 million) to produce three new products by 2017.
“Chairman Anand Mahindra and president Pawan Goenka both showed their unwavering support for Ssangyong,” Mahindra’s publicists said Sunday.
Anand Mahindra, chairman and managing director of Mahindra & Mahindra
Mahindra is chairman and managing director of Mahindra & Mahindra, while Goenka is executive director and president of Mahindra’s automotive and farm equipment sectors.
A group of lawmakers including Hong Young-pyo of the main opposition Democratic Party, Sim Sang-jeung of the Progressive Justice Party and government official Kwon Young-soon, head of labor affairs at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, met with the Mahindra executives in India last week.
“Ssangyong has made good progress since its M&A with Mahindra in 2011, but there is still a long way to go to achieve this vision,” Mahindra said, articulating his long-term vision for Ssangyong to be the next renowned, admired and trusted automotive company from Korea.
Goenka reiterated earlier statements to the government last year, saying Mahindra would support if necessary in investing 1 trillion won over the next three to four years to introduce three new products by 2017.
In line with such plans, Mahindra provided 80 billion won in additional equity funding to Ssangyong earlier this year.
Goenka added that the partial reinstatement of workers laid off in 2009 prior to Mahindra’s acquisition would be done on the basis of business need and based on the increase in vehicle sales.
“Ssangyong will (hopefully) need to hire additional workers by the end of 2014 when it starts production of its X100 compact SUV,” he said.
He also cautioned that hiring additional workers under political pressure, ahead of time and without sufficient sales, would seriously jeopardize the ongoing turnaround of Ssangyong and could lead to a repeat of the 2009 situation.
By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)