SsangYong Motor Company (SYMC) has been a major player in the Korean SUV game having sold nearly 1.3 million SUVs from 1990-2009. It has a strong dealer presence of about 1,200 dealers around the globe. The company entered the era of four-wheel drive vehicles in the 1980s by independently developing the Musso and the Korando. After 2000, SsangYong established itself as a pioneer of SUVs by building a full line of SUVs consisting of the Rexton, Korando, Actyon Sports, Tivoli and the XLV.
SsangYong was initially established as the Ha Dong-Hwan Motor workshop in 1954 which started off by producing trucks, buses and special purpose vehicles with a key focus on export of these vehicles. In 1977, the company, known at the time as Ha Dong-Hwan Motor Co. changed its name to Dong A Motor Co. Ltd. In 1984, Dong A Motor Co. took over Geohwa Co. and subsequently acquired the name Korando, a contraction of the motto "Korean Can Do". In 1986, it was taken over by the SsangYong Business Group and its name was ultimately changed to SsangYong Motor Company.
In January 2009, after recording a loss of USD 75.42 million, the company was put into receivership and subsequently put itself up for acquirement in 2010.
In 2011, Mahindra & Mahindra closed the deal to buy SsangYong by paying ₹2,105 crore ($463 million) to acquire a 70% controlling stake. SsangYong continues to function as an independent entity while the company retained the existing management to help it understand the local market and took a few executives from M&M, who will work with the Korean management in key operational areas.
The SsangYong brand first made its official public appearance in India during the 2012 Auto Expo, held at New Delhi, where it displayed the Rexton, the XIV-1 Concept, Actyon Sports and the fully-electric Korando E. The first SsangYong car launched in India was the Rexton.
SsangYong car prices start from around ₹ 23 lakh for the 2018 Rexton. All SsangYong car price listings can be found on the website of autoX.