Chinese staff, executives quit Ssangyong Motor

All Chinese staff of Ssangyong Motor including CEO Lan Qingsong have gone home. The Korean automaker on Tuesday said all Chinese staff from owner Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp.(SAIC) have returned to China, with the last Chinese staffer, the accounting manager, leaving on Monday. About 30 Chinese staff, including about 10 executives, had worked in Korea.

That suggests SAIC is indeed washing its hands off the court receivership process. In a statement issued after filing for receivership earlier, SAIC had pledged to "do its best" in the court receivership process.

All 30 Korean executives resigned on Monday. A Ssangyong executive said they resigned en bloc to give the court receivers as much leeway as possible.

Ssangyong is trying to normalize operations by rolling out the C200, a new crossover vehicle, earlier than the original date at the end of this year. But recovering sales will not be easy and the automaker has not enough funds to maintain its plant and pay subcontractors.