US vehicle importer HAAH Automotive Holdings said it planned to submit a letter of intent (LoI) this week to acquire bankrupt South Korean automaker SsangYong Motor Company, according to local reports.

A source close to the importer said HAAH founder Duke Hale saw his California-based company as the “optimal company to acquire financially troubled Ssangyong and will submit a LoI by Friday”.

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Ssangyong was placed under court receivership in April 2021 and its administrators set a 31 July deadline to receive bids for the automaker.

Mahindra & Mahindra, for close to two years, held talks with HAAH to sell its majority stake in loss-making Ssangyong without success.

Hale said HAAH needed more time to look into Ssangyong’s financial details before making an investment decision.

Earlier this month, Ssangyong administrators announced a recovery plan backed by the government of Pyeongtaek, where its vehicle assembly plant is located, 70km south of Seoul.

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The plan involved selling the site of the existing plant and building a new plant in the same city to switch the entire Ssangyong range to all-electric models.

If its bid succeeds, HAAH plans to import Ssangyong vehicles into the United States and Canada.

Ssangyong has released a design sketch of a new SUV model under development, codenamed KR10 and equipped with an “eco-friendly” powertrain, to stimulate interest from prospective buyers.

Last month, the automaker said it would launch its first all-electric model, the Korando EV, in Europe later this year.