The South Korean automaker has come a long way in just six years. Losses have made way for profits, sales are at a decade high, and the company is looking beyond its home turf.
WHEN MAHINDRA AND MAHINDRA (M&M) bought a majority stake in little-known South Korean automaker SsangYong Motor in 2011, many had to hit Google search. Sang who? Once they knew, the question was ‘why?’ This wasn’t a trophy buy— SsangYong had a limited range of SUVs and just one sedan, oddly named the Chairman. Nor did it offer M&M a pathway to the lucrative markets of Europe and North America. In fact, it wasn’t even a major player in its home country; that would be GM Korea, Hyundai Motor, and Kia Motors. And, worse, SsangYong had just filed for bankruptcy. The consensus then was, this was a bad shopping decision. Except, it wasn’t—as we now know.
Six years after acquiring a 70% stake for 522 billion South Korean won ($464 million or roughly Rs 2,100 crore at that time), M&M’s day out in South Korea has finally paid off. SsangYong, a company set up in 1954, recorded its highest sales in 14 years in 2016, and after years of being in the red is now making a profit.
Make no mistake, this was no impulsive buy. SsangYong’s turnaround, as much as it underlines M&M’s business prowess in international markets, is a vindication of the man behind the scenes: Pawan Goenka, M&M’s managing director, and chairman of the board at SsangYong Motor. Goenka, Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra’s man on the job, saw something that many did not. “I believed that if we were to somehow take the best of Indian [management] style and the best of Korean style, and blend them, it would be very powerful,” Goenka says.
To Goenka, SsangYong needed no introduction. A decade before the acquisition, M&M had held talks with the Korean company on a licence agreement to sell its Rexton SUV in India. Goenka went to South Korea three times in a bid to strike a deal, but the two sides could not reach an agreement.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 2017-Ausgabe von Fortune India.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der April 2017-Ausgabe von Fortune India.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
IN GOOD COMPANY
BIRDS OF A FEATHER MAY FLOCK TOGETHER, but what about other collectives of critters-and what do you call them when they do?
Sense or Nonsense?
Why some birds can taste and smell - but others can't
Food-Focused and Fierce
Meet Canada jays and learn why they eat almost anything they can find
Sparrow Look-Alikes
Distinct sounds help separate these similar species
ON THE MOVE
Birds approach the challenges of migration in surprising ways. Learn about how they walk, swim or take the scenic route during their travels.
Embracing the Darkness
From black plants to moody decor, Gothic garden elements can offer a unique outlet to express your dark side
Autumn Wonders
Fall colors offer befitting backdrops for these stunning reader photos
Red-Hot Plants
Scarlet-hued berries add a pop of color to any garden
YOUR OWN Perfect Prairie
Learn how to cultivate an oasis of grassland flora in your backyard
Maple Mania
Amazing facts about this fall foliage mainstay
THE GE NERAL
How ELIZABETH PRELOGAR, America's low-key, high-powered solicitor general, is holding the Supreme Court's feet to the fire
HELLA, YES
Thirty years into her career, Dutch design star Hella Jongerius proves the best ideas-and objects are those that grow and transform along with us
BAD FAITH
From exiled actors to academics, influencers to intellectuals, VF gets under the hood of the Catholic right's celebrity conversion industrial complex
Boys and THEIR TOYS
Inside the hypermacho, Bible-thumping alt-tech universe trying to take on Silicon Valley-from El Segundo
STRANGER Things
The Democrats' short hot summer of \"weird\"
CHARM SCHOOL
In the hands of Ashe Leandro, a historic New York City house gets a delightful makeover
FUNNY BUSINESS
NEARLY 50 YEARS AGO, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE LAUNCHED A REVOLUTION THAT CHANGED COMEDY, TELEVISION, AND THE MOVIES. NOW DIRECTOR JASON REITMAN HAS RE-CREATED THE CHAOTIC HOURS BEFORE SNL'S FIRST EPISODE. LIVE FROM NEW YORK, IT'S 1975!
A House Divided
The Mellon dynasty has long been known for its old money refinement and discretion. But when TIM MELLON became Donald Trump's biggest donor many members of the family were mystified-and not afraid to talk about it
VANITIES
MAISY STELLA knows how to think outside the box
Changed for Good
Blending architectural styles, the new movie Wicked ventures off the beaten yellow-brick path
Staying Present
At his Manhattan apartment, Queer Eye star and first-time homeowner Antoni Porowski leans into the moment
Going Big
From her vast new studio in the South of France, ceramist Olivia Cognet ups the ante
Table Talk
Gae Aulenti's 1965 marble Jumbo table still has outsize appeal
Earth Tone
In Mexico's Valle de Guadalupe, a new wellness resort looks to the land
BOTH NOW SIDES
SELENA GOMEZ is seriously in loveand making the best work of her career. With the audacious Emilia Pérez hitting theaters and Only Murders in the Building returning to TV, the actor, singer, entrepreneur, and mental health advocate talks, about the climb
shades of eden
In her magical LA garden, artist Mimi Lauter contemplates the cycle of life and the rapturous power of color
GIVE AND LET GIVE
MELINDA FRENCH GATES is speaking out for the rights of women and girls, embracing her role as godmother to her fellow philanthropists, and getting political, even when it's a little uncomfortable.
mother nature
Taking inspiration from her own childhood memories, Jennifer Garner crafts a cozy California home and garden where she and her family can put down roots
THE BILLIONAIRE'S SECRET
THE GERMAN INDUSTRIALIST KLAUSMICHAEL KUEHNE, BORN IN 1937, IS ONE OF THE RICHEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD, WITH MORE MONEY THAN KEN GRIFFIN, OR MACKENZIE SCOTT, OR FRANÇOIS PINAULT. WHERE DID HIS FAMILY FORTUNE COME FROM? THE NAZIS KNOW
BOTH SIDES NOW
Celebrated for his fantastical, genderfluid fashions, designer Harris Reed brings the same rule-flouting approach to a petite London apartment