Ssangyong Motor posts $34 mln loss in Q2

Ssangyong Motor Co., the South Korean unit of China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC), said yesterday that it swung to the red in the second quarter of the year from a year earlier on a drop in sales of its sport-utility vehicles. 

It posted a loss of 35.7 billion won (US$34.6 million) in the April-June period, compared with a profit of 6.3 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Sales fell 19 per cent to 651 billion won over the cited period.

The automaker posted an operating loss of 32.4 billion won in the second quarter, shifting from an operating profit of 12.7 billion won, it said.

Ssangyong Motor, South Korea's smallest automaker, has been hit hard by higher fuel prices because its lineup is dominated by gas-guzzling sports utility vehicles.

Ssangyong's vehicles sales in the first half fell 26 per cent from a year earlier to 49,802 units.

Its domestic sales dropped 32.5 per cent to 21,047 units in the first six months,and overseas sales also sank 20.5 per cent to 28,755 units over the cited period.

Shares of Ssangyong Motor were trading at 3,000 won on the Seoul bourse as of 1:10 p.m. Tuesday, down 0.99 per cent.