Ssangyong Motor's 2008 sales plunge 29.6%

Ssangyong Motor Co., the South Korean unit of China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC), said Friday its vehicle sales tumbled 29.6 percent in 2008 from a year earlier on weak exports.

Ssangyong Motor said in a regulatory filing that it sold 92,665 vehicles last year, with domestic sales totaling 39,165 units and exports reaching 53,500 units.

In December, sales nosedived 53.5 per cent annually to 5,540 units, the company said.