Moon Jae-do, vice minister at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Kim Ja-hye, director general of Consumers Korea, and other guest look around at the Energy Winner Awards Ceremony co-organized by Consumers Korea and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held on July 22 at COEX in Seoul. The exhibition displayed energy prize winners, including SsangYong's Tivoli, Samsung laptops and TVs, and more./ Source from Newsis

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By Ha Man-joo, India correspondent, AsiaToday - Indian automobile manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra has both high hopes and some concerns about SsangYong Motor Company.

Indian business newspaper Business Standard reported on Monday that Mahindra Group is experiencing double torture as it is facing a volume decline in the Indian car market while SsangYong Motor Company is also on a decline in the Korean car market. However, the newspaper said the outlook in the Korean market is hopeful. Mahindra Group became a major stakeholder in SsangYong by acquiring a 70 percent stake in 2010.

SsangYong's sales volume declined by 5 percent in Jan-July period. Mahindra Group's volumes fell 8% in the April-July period of 2015-16 in the Indian passenger vehicle business. SsangYong's volume had declined 3% in 2014 to 141,047 vehicles.

SsangYong's decline is primarily due to its decision to halt exports to Russia, following a sharp plunge in the ruble in the second half of last year which impacted demand for imported passenger vehicles in Russia. SsangYong exported 35,000 units to Russia in 2013. However, its exports slipped 41% in 2014, and finally decided to halt exports early this year.

Pawan Goenka, executive director at Mahindra & Mahindra and also chairman of SsangYong Motor Company, said that overall export volumes for SsangYong declined 40 percent due to the Russian impact. The positive news, however, is that volumes in the Korean market grew 37 percent in the first six months of the calendar year. He said, "We estimate that for the year, we will have about four percent growth in volume, ending at about 146,000 units."

Mahindra Group is looking forward to the sales of Tivoli, an SUV launched in January. Goenka said, "The Tivoli has been perhaps the best launch in South Korea in recent times for anyone. Up to now, we have sold 33,000 units. We have sold more than 5,000 a month for the past three or four months. Bookings right now are 8,000, so we are very happy with response that we have received and expect that the Tivoli will cross 50,000 for the year."