South Korean auto maker SsangYong Motor filed for bankruptcy on Monday amid rising debt and declining sales amid the pandemic. The company's overdue debts exceeded US $ 285 million, which is 42% of its capital.
About US $ 90 million SsangYong Motor owes foreign investors such as JP Morgan Bank, debts to South Korean creditors such as Woori Bank and the state-owned Korea Development Bank amount to US $ 194 million.
SsangYong Motor has filed an application for the commencement of judicial bankruptcy proceedings, since due to the inability to reach an agreement on extending the maturity of debt with foreign banks, significant problems will arise in the company's work, the South Korean corporation said in a statement.
Earlier, SsangYong asked the main lender KDB and other lenders to roll over the loans, but did not receive approval from the lenders.
The SUV carmaker has posted a net loss for the last 15 consecutive quarters until the third quarter of this year, due to a lack of new models and stronger competition from local competitors.
Vehicle sales fell 19% year on year to 96,763 units between January and November from 119,876 a year earlier.
The SsangYong lineup consists of the flagship G4 Rexton, as well as Tivoli, Korando and Rexton Sports.
This is the second time SsangYong is being prosecuted after going through the same process ten years ago.
