Jin-Kwan Soh, the president of Ssangyong Motor, said on the 13th, “With our new car, Actyon, we will explore the diesel sports utility vehicle (SUV) market in China and Europe, and increase our export ratio to 55% by next year.”

President Jin-Kwan Soh made that announcement at the premiere event for Actyon, which was held at the Walkhill Hotel in Seoul. Ssangyong Motor is actively working on the strategy to maximize profits by increasing exports, which will compensate for the sluggish domestic market.

Last month, Ssangyong Motor introduced their Kyron to the European market, and for the first time in their history, they exported over 7,000 cars in a month. For the month of September, they sold a total 13,633 cars, which is a 23.2% increase compared to the same month last year.

President Jin-Kwan Soh stated “European regions will introduce the Euro 4 exhaust gas standard in 2007. In response to this, we will be working on the full-scale launch of our Actyon to the European market, beginning in the latter part of next year.” They also plan to move the model into the Chinese market prior to its European debut, since the SUV market in China is in an expanding formative stage.

The president also noted that “Actyon offers outstanding performance and design compared to other major international brand vehicles or domestic competitive vehicles.” He then added “We will work for good feedback from domestic consumers first, and then we will develop this vehicle as the product that we can rely on for success in the world market.”

- Source from Money Today (Oct 13th, 2005)