Ssangyong Motor posted a sharp decline in its third-quarter earnings. Operating loss topped 100 billion won and sales also declined due to sluggish sales.
Ssangyong Motor Co. said on Oct. 18 that its operating loss reached 105.2 billion won in the third quarter, about five times the size of its deficit compared with 22 billion won in loss in the same period last year. Sales came to 836.4 billion won, down 7.2 percent from a year earlier. Its net loss also widened to 107.9 billion won.
The accumulated operating loss reached 182.1 billion won this year. The figure is up about 120 billion won from 64.2 billion won in total losses last year. Its cumulative sales through the third quarter stood at 2.704 trillion won, up only 2 percent from a year earlier.
Sales also dropped noticeably. Although it sold 34,851 units in the first quarter and 35,426 units in the second quarter, its third-quarter sales stood at 31,126 units.
This year, Ssangyong Motor introduced a series of new Korando and Tivoli partial change models, striving to recover its performance. However, sales in the third quarter were sluggish as the effect of the new Korando was over and new models in Tivoli were not able to make much progress due to the emergence of new models from competitors such as Kia Motors' Seltos.
Ssangyong began restructuring in August by cutting the number of its executives by 10-20 percent after its recent performance deteriorated significantly. Labor and management also agreed to implement a high-intensity self-rescue plan that includes rotational leave of office workers.
"The losses have been extended in the wake of decreased sales due to weak industrial demand and intensifying competition," said Ye Byung-tae, CEO of Ssangyong Motor. "We will actively seek to normalize management through aggressive efforts to expand global sales along with improving profitability through high-intensity reform measures."
