SsangYong's five-year plan to take on HiLux, Ranger and D-Max | Opinion

SsangYong seems to be making a massive comeback with huge sales of its Musso ute after being rescued out of bankruptcy, but 'this other' Korean brand better bring in a follow up act fast.

Momentum is everything and right now SsangYong has had more of it than it maybe ever had with sales of its Musso ute experiencing a 300 per cent growth compared to this time last year.

Then again, this time last year things were looking bleak for SsangYong.

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Former owner Mahindra sold its 75 per cent share in the company in 2020, which forced Korea's third largest car company to go into debt to the tune of $357.7 million to creditors and contractors.

After filing for bankruptcy, SsangYong then suffered through a failed attempt to be bailed out by Edison Motors which also went into bankruptcy, before Korean chemical company KG Group made a bid which was approved in late July 2022.

Fast forward a year and the debts have been paid off and the reborn SsangYong's sales are through the roof.

In June, SsangYong sold 456 Musso utes, up by 276.9 per cent compared to May. Year-to-date sales are currently at 2036, up by 300 per cent compared to last year.

It's not just the Musso. Sales of the seven-seat Rexton large SUV are up by 45.5 per cent year to date with 960 sold so far and SsangYong's third model the Korando mid-sized SUV has seen a 23.3 per cent increase in sales compared to 2022.

So now that SsangYong is back in the black and has everybody's attention, what's next? See, I think if SsangYong doesn't use this momentum to release something new soon it'll slide backwards and out of the font of Aussies minds.

The sudden popularity is now putting the pressure on every part SsangYong from marketing to product development. Now would be the time to bring out a nationwide brand awareness campaign, but the company admits that it doesn't have the advertising money to keep up with the likes of established players like Toyota and even newcomers like Haval.

"Our biggest challenge as a growing brand is getting the word out there. It's hard to compete against the advertising budgets of the big brands and even the budgets of the Chinese utes," SsangYong Australia's PR manager John Taylor said.

It would be a daunting prospect trying to compete with the likes of Toyota which is known to spend about $100 million a year on advertising in Australia.

Still, people are now buying SsangYongs like they never have before, and the time would seem perfect for the company to bring out a new model and a cut-price electric one would be even better.

At the start of this year CarsGuide reported that SsangYong was promising to bring out a mid-sized SUV called the Torres with a petrol engine initially and then most likely with electric variant following.

The Australian wing of SsangYong told CarsGuide that the company was working on new models but refrained going into any more detail.

"We have an approved product development strategy in place for the next three to five years including EV," Taylor told us.

When asked if this meant the Torres or an electric vehicle would be launched soon, we were told that all options were on the table, but the company was concentrating its efforts on what it was currently selling in Australia and building the dealer network.

"Everything in the portfolio in Korea Head Office is under consideration for our market but nothing is confirmed at this stage," Taylor said.

"Right now, we are trying to keep up with the growing appetite for Musso and Rexton, on top of that we are handling a continuous number of enquiries from dealers interested in partnering with the SsangYong brand."

It'd be a shame for SsangYong to miss the momentum it appears to have built, especially given Australians are so ready to bravely sample brands they never would have before if it means getting into an electric vehicle at a low price.

At the start of this year CarsGuide reported that SsangYong was promising to bring out a mid-sized SUV called the Torres with a petrol engine initially and then most likely with electric variant following.

At the same time, we're talking about a car company which came dangerously close to shutting down, and expecting that company to now produce new and modern SUVS - let alone state-of-the-art EVs - out of nowhere might be too much to ask right now.

The answer could come in the form of its new parent company KG Group which is also the owner of a chemical and also a steel business. If there's the possibility for it to also build electric vehicle batteries and is prepared to work with another carmaker in a joint venture then SsangYong might have a chance at taking on the likes of other electric brands such as BYD.

What is more likely to happen is SsangYong will leverage what it is best at, and that's it's ute and off-road SUV offerings. That would be an easier and smarter way forward and reading between the lines it appears that this is what SsangYong's three-to-five year plan entails.

The company is already making a rebound led by its Musso, and with KG showing off new versions of the Musso and seven-seat Rexton under their international names of the Khan Culmen and Rexton Sports, respectively, in May. We're expecting these to arrive in Australia before the end of the year.

SsangYong can then build the following and ride that resurgent wave while stealing a share of the very lucrative Australian ute market.

You only have to look at Ford which appears to be keeping the lights on and paying the rent just through sales of its Ranger ute and Everest ooffshot  to see that it's a model which works.

As for taking HiLux on, well, sure SsangYong doesn't have Toyota money to throw at advertising, but it appears that Australians are turning to the brand though reputation and campsite word-of-mouth in the same way they did to Isuzu with the D-Max.

So, you can probably forget about EVs coming straight away from SsangYong and expect them brand to do an Isuzu and if KG are able to continue to provide the funds to keep operations going then there's no reason why this can't happen.

Oh, and then there was the case of the name. SsangYong changed it's name to KG Mobility in March this year and it was expected that the brands cars would also swap to KG badges but Taylor can't shed any light on this.

"We continue as SsangYong Australia," he said. "Still no decision regarding any name change!"