최경애
| 2023-05-02 17:00:55
(LEAD) KG Mobility-April sales
(LEAD) KG Mobility's April sales rise 22 pct on SUV models
(ATTN: UPDATES with Q1 earnings in last 9 paras)
SEOUL, May 2 (Yonhap) -- KG Mobility, formerly SsangYong Motors, said Tuesday its sales rose 22 percent last month from a year earlier, driven by robust demand for its SUV models.
KG Mobility sold 9,899 vehicles in April, up from 8,140 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement.
Domestic sales climbed 15 percent to 5,583 units last month from 4,839 a year ago, while exports were up 31 percent to 4,316 units from 3,301 during the same period, it said.
From January to April, its sales jumped 43 percent to 44,892 autos from 31,328 units during the same period last year.
KG Mobility's lineup consists of the Tivoli, Korando, Rexton, Rexton Sports and Torres SUVs. It will launch the Torres EVX, which can travel around 500 kilometers on a single charge, in the domestic market in the second half.
The Seoul Bankruptcy Court approved SsangYong's debt payment plans in August after the court picked a local consortium led by chemical-to-steel firm KG Group as the final bidder to acquire the debt-laden company in June.
In October, the SUV-focused carmaker graduated from the court-led debt rescheduling program 1 1/2 years after it was placed under court receivership.
Also Tuesday, KG Mobility shifted to a net profit of 16.52 billion won (US$12.32 million) in the first quarter ended in March from a net loss of 31.61 billion won a year earlier.
The company also swung to an operating profit of 9.38 billion won from an operating loss of 30.86 billion won during the mentioned period. Sales jumped 52 percent to 1.085 trillion won from 714.02 billion won.
It also signed a "conditional" deal with Edison Motors Co. to acquire the electric bus maker, which has been under the court-led debt rescheduling program since January.
Last month, a bankruptcy court in the southeastern city of Changwon selected KG Mobility as a preferred bidder to acquire Edison.
Edison Motors previously tried to acquire SsangYong Motor early last year but failed to make a full payment for the debt-laden carmaker, which was under court receivership, by the March 25 deadline.
KG Mobility submitted a letter of intent to acquire Edison Motors in March, conducted preliminary due diligence early in April and submitted an investment proposal to the bankruptcy court in Changwon, which is in charge of the debt restructuring of Edison Motors.
The court plans to pick the final bidder for Edison Motors through a stalking horse bid, in which preliminary bidder KG Mobility suggests its price for Edison ahead of an auction and other bidders submit their prices in the auction.
If a bidder suggests a higher price, KG Mobility has to decide on whether to take over Edison at the other bidder's price or not.
The court is expected to hold the auction as early as this month.
(END)
[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]