SsangYong Motor to unveil new pickup truck

PYEONGTAEK, Gyeonggi Province -- SsangYong Motor, the South Korean unit of India’s Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., will release a new fourth-generation pickup truck codenamed Q200 at the beginning of next year, an official said Wednesday.

“The Q200 is not a follow-up model to the Korando Sports pickup truck. It is a separate model that is similar in size with the G4 Rexton,” Song Seung-ki, head of Production HQ, SsangYong Motor, told reporters after a tour of the company’s production plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

Song Seung-ki, the head of Production HQ, SsangYong Motor, holds a question-and-answer session with reporters after a tour of the company’s production plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province on Wednesday. (SsangYong Motor)

The automaker invested some 30 billion won ($26.2 million) to expand the production line that will be in charge of making the Q200, the company said. Production of the Q200 will start in December and it will hit markets early next year.

As for plans to advance into the lucrative Chinese market, SsangYong Motor is expected to finalize a deal to build a factory there along with Shannxi Automobile Group, a Chinese bus and truck manufacturer, within the third or fourth quarter of this year, the company said.

Meanwhile, the automaker’s premium large-size SUV G4 Rexton is expected to hit Europe this October.

The carmaker has not made its debut in the US yet. 

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)