The vice chairman of India‘s top utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra, last week named the main bidder for Ssangyong Motor, will travel to Korea this week, the Indian company said at the weekend.
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Anand Mahindra plans to meet with the management and creditors of Korea’s smallest automaker, senior government officials and local reporters during his visit, Mahindra & Mahindra said in a statement.
Mahindra & Mahindra was expected to sign a preliminary deal with Ssangyong to buy the stake on August 26, after putting down a deposit worth KRW26bn (US$21.9m) to honour its bid, which represents 5% of the accepted price.
The Indian company is then expected to study Ssangyong Motor‘s books in September and finalise the deal in November.
Ssangyong said earlier its net loss narrowed in the second quarter from a year earlier thanks to increased vehicle sales, the Korea Herald reported. Its net loss reached KRW21.5bn ($18.2m) in the April-June period, far less than the loss of KRW177.2bn won posted in the same period last year, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Sales more than doubled to 529.6bn won from 221.7bn won a year ago, with its operating loss also shrinking to 8.4bn won from 27.5bn won in the red, the automaker said.
For the January-June period, its net loss was 47.3bn won, compared with a 442.8bn won deficit a year earlier, the filing showed. Sales reached a combined 929.3bn won for the six-month period, with operating loss at 20.7bn won.
Ssangyong said stabilisation of its auto production lines helped reduce losses and a new sport utility vehicle model due out in the second half is expected to further improve its performance.
“The company’s managerial performances also improved significantly on the back of its continued efforts to stabilise its production by working with the labour union to conclude this year‘s wage deal at an early date and improve labour-management relations,” Lee Yoo-il, a court-appointed manager of Ssangyong Motor, said.
“We expect to see significant growth yet again in the second half of the year as we are working to expand our vehicle lineup by launching various new models that meet the needs of every customer, with the Korando C also set to be launched,” he added.
