ID :
50493
Sat, 03/14/2009 - 15:13
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https://www.oananews.org//node/50493
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Ssangyong Motor manager warns of liquidation, union says
SEOUL, March 13 (Yonhap) -- A court-appointed manager of Ssangyong Motor Co.,
South Korea's smallest automaker, acknowledged the risk of liquidation as
creditors voiced doubts about the troubled company's viability, the
manufacturer's union said Friday.
Ssangyong entered court receivership last month amid collapsing sales and
dwindling cash reserves. It will be required to submit a turnaround plan to its
creditors a bankruptcy court in Seoul by early April. If the plan is deemed
unfeasible, the company will be liquidated.
"The creditors' stance is that liquidation is a better option to retrieve their
debts from Ssangyong Motor," Park Young-tae, one of two court-appointed managers
at Ssangyong, was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the union.
Park, who served as Ssangyong's director of financing before he assumed the
management role, made the remark at a recent meeting with employees, according to
the statement.
"It's not a threat, but a fact," Park said, citing the results of an audit of the
company's assets.
The remark comes amid local news reports that Ssangyong may have to slash
one-third of its 5,200 assembly line workers to stay afloat.
Officials at Ssangyong's public relations team were not immediately available for
comment.
Han Sang-kyun, leader of Ssangyong's union, strongly criticized Park for making
the remark and called on the state-run Korea Development Bank, the carmaker's
main creditor, to offer fresh loans. He also admitted that the company is
desperate for cash.
"Unless new funds are offered in two or three months, Ssangyong Motor will get
the ax," Han said.
Ssangyong is South Korea's first big corporate casualty of the global economic
crisis, which has taken the wind out of demand for new vehicles and tightened
credit conditions.
The carmaker has an annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles. It posted a
net loss of 709.7 billion won (US$481 million) in 2008 on sales of 2.5 trillion
won, down 20 percent from a year earlier.
Last month, Ssangyong's vehicle sales plummeted 69.4 percent to 2,369 units.
With the bankruptcy protection, Ssangyong's biggest shareholder, China's Shanghai
Automotive Industry Corp., relinquished its control of the South Korean carmaker,
ending its five-year marriage to the company.
(END)
South Korea's smallest automaker, acknowledged the risk of liquidation as
creditors voiced doubts about the troubled company's viability, the
manufacturer's union said Friday.
Ssangyong entered court receivership last month amid collapsing sales and
dwindling cash reserves. It will be required to submit a turnaround plan to its
creditors a bankruptcy court in Seoul by early April. If the plan is deemed
unfeasible, the company will be liquidated.
"The creditors' stance is that liquidation is a better option to retrieve their
debts from Ssangyong Motor," Park Young-tae, one of two court-appointed managers
at Ssangyong, was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the union.
Park, who served as Ssangyong's director of financing before he assumed the
management role, made the remark at a recent meeting with employees, according to
the statement.
"It's not a threat, but a fact," Park said, citing the results of an audit of the
company's assets.
The remark comes amid local news reports that Ssangyong may have to slash
one-third of its 5,200 assembly line workers to stay afloat.
Officials at Ssangyong's public relations team were not immediately available for
comment.
Han Sang-kyun, leader of Ssangyong's union, strongly criticized Park for making
the remark and called on the state-run Korea Development Bank, the carmaker's
main creditor, to offer fresh loans. He also admitted that the company is
desperate for cash.
"Unless new funds are offered in two or three months, Ssangyong Motor will get
the ax," Han said.
Ssangyong is South Korea's first big corporate casualty of the global economic
crisis, which has taken the wind out of demand for new vehicles and tightened
credit conditions.
The carmaker has an annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles. It posted a
net loss of 709.7 billion won (US$481 million) in 2008 on sales of 2.5 trillion
won, down 20 percent from a year earlier.
Last month, Ssangyong's vehicle sales plummeted 69.4 percent to 2,369 units.
With the bankruptcy protection, Ssangyong's biggest shareholder, China's Shanghai
Automotive Industry Corp., relinquished its control of the South Korean carmaker,
ending its five-year marriage to the company.
(END)
