All about SSANGYONG
Born: 1988
Nationality: Korean
Although it didn't trade under the Ssangyong name until the late 1980s, the enterprise goes back to 1954 when the Ha Dong-hwan Motor Workshop was established. Over the following decade its bus-making business eventually included exports to countries such as Brunei and Vietnam.
In a series of acquisitions and joint ventures, the company became a manufacturer of 4WD vehicles for the region under a technical partnership with American Motors. Through the late 1960s and early 1970s, a number of soft- and hard-top 4WDs were developed. The enterprise also diversified into fire engines.
A series of taxi 4WDs were launched in 1981, and what was now the Donga Motor Company added snowplough vehicles and dump trailers to its portfolio. In the mid-1980s it took over the Geohwa company and its Korando trademark; its 4WDs were then branded as Korandos (above).
In 1986 the Ssangyong conglomerate took over the management of the company and, after acquiring Panther in Britain, the motor business took on the Ssangyong name in 1988.
The Korando vehicle, heavily used by the Korean armed forces, was expanded to a station wagon called the Family. Exports to Europe of the standard Korando began in 1988 - it established some rally-cred when it won the 1990 Kypros Rally in Cyprus.
In 1991, an alliance with Mercedes-Benz for the development of a light commercial vehicle began a relationship which was to underpin the Musso 4WD wagon vehicle two years down the road. It also involved development of petrol and diesel engines. In the meantime, exports of the Panther Kallista began in 1992.
A new Korando Family was produced in 1994, the Istana MB100 LCV a year later, and a brand-new Korando made its appearance as a rather more curvy and futuristic design than the old versions. For local region consumption, the Chairman luxury saloon appeared in 1997 - it was based on an early-generation S-Class Mercedes.
About this time, the Ssangyong chaebol hit financial trouble. It tried to sell its motor division to Samsung, but before the move was completed Samsung decided to build its own car factories. The 1997 financial crisis in Pacific Rim economies hit the conglomerate hard, and the following year the automotive division was hived off and merged with Daewoo.
Upgrades of the Musso and the Chairman were produced during the shaky turn over into the new millennium and, with Daewoo in its own troubles, Ssangyong was let go its own way again in 2000. A year later, a long-in-development luxury SUV, the Rexton, was launched.
An assembly agreement with Shanghai Auto was followed by the launch last year of a number of upgraded variants of the Musso and Rexton. At the end of 2004, the company was in the process of being taken over by Shanghai Auto.
BEST CAR: Undoubtedly the current Rexton, selling quite well as an affordable and capable large SUV
WORST CAR: The Musso's old-technology Mercedes-based engines simply weren't enough to make the car enjoyable
WEIRDEST CAR: The Musso's styling was extraordinary . . . and it was designed by an Englishman