Ssangyong Motor said in a statement that it had applied to the court for reorganization on June 5438+February 2 1 due to the arrears of loans of about 60 billion won (equivalent to about 3.2 billion yuan). "Because it is impossible to reach an agreement with foreign banks on extending the repayment period, it is expected that normal operations will be greatly disturbed, so we apply to the court for bankruptcy reorganization procedures."
Since June this year, the mother-in-law Sima Hengda (Mahindra? & amp？ Mahindra) has stopped further investment in Ssangyong Motor and is willing to give up control of this loss-making enterprise, and has been looking for a suitable buyer for the latter. South Korea's Ministry of Trade and Industry recently issued a statement saying that although Ssangyong has applied to the court for takeover, negotiations on the sale of Ssangyong are still in progress.
It is worth mentioning that this is the second time that Ssangyong applied for corporate restructuring after the global economic crisis in 2009, after a lapse of 1 1 year. However, this application can only give the company a buffer period of three months at most to deal with and solve the multi-interest negotiations including creditors, thus delaying the court's bankruptcy ruling.
Ma Hengda took Ssangyong Motor, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, under its control on 20 10, but it has been difficult to turn the situation around and finally had to consider giving up the controlling stake of the company. Up to now, Ma Hengda still holds 74.65% of the shares of Ssangyong, and the remaining shares are in the hands of the Korean government and Ssangyong Trade Union. However, Ma Hengda, who voluntarily gave up his controlling stake, has started to find new buyers for his shares.
Debt 60 billion? Not only that!
According to Ma Hengda's official statement, of the total amount due in February of 14, Ssangyong Motor owes about 30 billion won to Bank of America, 20 billion won to JPMorgan Chase and 0 billion won to BNP Paribas, with a total debt of * * * 60 billion won. However, due to long-term losses and insolvency, the liquidity crisis faced by the company is far greater than the published data.
Since the first half of this year, many banks in South Korea have begun to "avoid" Ssangyong Motor, which is deeply mired in the quagmire. Many financial institutions have successively issued "ultimatums" to the company, either continuing to put pressure on the threshold of lending, or turning their faces and suspending the provision of loans.
Ssangyong once went from BNP Paribas (BNP? Paribas) and other investment banks borrowed about 200 billion won (equivalent to about 1 1 billion yuan) in short-term loans, but these top financial institutions also put forward the most basic loan requirements to Ssangyong, that is, Ma Hengda holds at least 5 1% of the company's shares. Once Ma Hengda chooses to abandon Ssangyong completely, these loans are at risk of being recovered at any time.
According to overseas media reports, Ssangyong Motor still owes Citibank? South Korea) is about 65.438+0092 billion won (equivalent to about 640 million yuan), which is owed to JPMorgan Chase (JP Morgan? Chase? & amp？ Co) 90 billion won (equivalent to 927 million yuan), owed to BNP Paribas 47 billion won (equivalent to 275 million yuan), owed to Bank of America Merrill Lynch (Bank? Yes? America? Merrill? Lynch) 300 billion won (equivalent to about RMB 65.438+75 million).
Just last week, the Korean media also revealed that Ssangyong Motor would default on a loan worth 90 billion won to the Korea Development Bank (KDB), which will expire on 65438+February 2 1 day. According to informed sources, the Korea Development Bank may consider extending the loan term, but only if Ssangyong Motor can repay overdue loans of several foreign banks.
Since the beginning of this year, Korea Development Bank has always attached great importance to the repayment of Ssangyong Motor, and it is one of the first financial institutions in South Korea to doubt the latter's operating ability. However, the closure of Ssangyong will not only lead to the unemployment of about 5,000 people directly employed by the company, but also affect the income and employment of related organizations and individuals, including upstream suppliers and distributors. In this case, the Korea Development Bank will be forced to agree to extend the loan term again to prevent Ssangyong from going bankrupt.
In fact, the loan from Korea Development Bank to Ssangyong was originally scheduled to expire in July, but because Ssangyong could not repay on time, the bank had to agree to the company's debt extension request and adjust the repayment schedule to 65438+February 3 1. Bank of Korea has realized that considering Ssangyong's current liquidity crisis, it is impossible for the company to solve the capital chain dilemma through normal new car sales at this stage.
As the largest commercial bank in Korea, National Bank (KB? Cook Ming. Bank) has recovered loans worth 8.75 billion won (equivalent to about 5 1 ten thousand yuan) in the third quarter. A spokesman for the bank said that Ssangyong handled the bank mortgage loan by itself, which is a large repair agency located in southwest Seoul. After learning this news, the State Bank decided to take back the previous loan to Ssangyong.
Where is the root of Ssangyong?
Earlier this year, Ma Hengda promised to inject 230 billion won (equivalent to about 65.438+35 billion yuan) into Ssangyong Motor in the next three years. However, due to the continuous impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the global auto market, the board of directors voted against the previous capital injection plan in July this year.
Being laid off by the parent company, this "hot potato" can only save itself if no one dares to take over. Prior to this, Ssangyong has launched the most severe self-help plan since the economic crisis. While re-designing the business route and strategic deployment, the executive compensation was collectively reduced by 20%, and about 22 kinds of benefits of the company were cancelled. The above measures saved Ssangyong a total of 654.38 billion won (equivalent to about 600 million yuan).
"One-time capital injection, palliative, not permanent!"
After Ma Hengda stated that he would sell ssangyong shares, some Korean analysts pointed out that a one-time capital injection by the parent company was not the best way to save the latter. On the contrary, Ssangyong can regain its vitality in the crisis only by reorganizing its product line and improving its product competitiveness.
So, where is the root of Ssangyong?
One of the sticking points is the product.
Ssangyong 20 15 launches compact SUV? Tivoli has sold more than 300,000 vehicles worldwide, but this hot-selling model has never launched a new product that keeps pace with the times; In the past four years, Ssangyong invested about 350 billion won (equivalent to about 2.6 billion yuan) to develop the fifth-generation Korando, but by the first half of 2020, the cumulative sales volume of this car was only about 20,000, far below the target of 30,000 vehicles per year, while the global sales volume of its competitor Hyundai Tucson in 20 19 has reached 672,000 vehicles.
"Tivoli has achieved great success, but there are also many new products in the highly competitive SUV market. Ssangyong has always been complacent, and various competing models are rapidly piling up in the market, shifting consumers' attention to other models. "Korea's Duke University (Daeduk? Li Haogen (Li? Ho-geun) once said so.
Of course, Ssangyong still lacks a new energy lineup.
It is impossible to transform in the new era of four modernizations, which makes Ssangyong more and more difficult in the local and overseas markets. Even some insiders in South Korea have analyzed that even if Ssangyong can successfully obtain Ma Hengda's follow-up investment, reshape the product line and launch new electrified vehicles within three to four years, it is difficult to directly Pk with competitors with comprehensive competitiveness and cost performance.
Ssangyong has shown the world the most embarrassing side, from the lack of new models, to the sluggish sales, and finally to the accumulation of losses, as well as the serious lag in the development of new cars, the vicious circle it faces has become increasingly difficult to turn back.
All this is not unrelated to the frustration of overseas sales.
"The automotive industry relies on economies of scale. For a long time, manufacturers have launched new products through large-scale investment, achieved scale sales after mass production, and then used profits as funds to develop the next generation of new models. " South Korea's Dalin University (Daelim? Professor Jin Pixiu (Jin? According to Piersu's analysis, Ssangyong ranks third in domestic sales, following Hyundai and Kia, but if global sales are counted, the company falls to fifth, while GM Korea and Renault Samsung rank third and fourth respectively.
The data shows that Ssangyong's exports began to decline from 20 1 1, when the export volume still accounted for 65% of its total output, but by 20 19, this figure had dropped to 19%. Before this year 1 1 month, Ssangyong's cumulative sales volume was 96,700 vehicles, down 19% compared with the same period of last year, due to weak overseas sales.
The most important reason is that although Ssangyong has an overseas parent company in India, it lacks a network to support global sales. Compared with GM Korea and Renault Samsung, which rely on the global market (for example, exported to Europe and Japan through American Chevrolet network or Renault Nissan network respectively), Ma Hengda's core market is still India, which cannot be based on Ssangyong Motor's more stable global sales channels, resulting in the latter's worldwide sales performance being unable to compare with its competitors.
A dead end of bankruptcy
Although Ssangyong also tried to open more dealers in Britain and other regions to expand sales in the European market, due to lack of funds, it has not achieved the goal of expanding overseas markets.
In addition, changes in international relations have also affected Ssangyong's export sales. As early as 20 16, Ssangyong gradually opened up the Iranian market under the background of Tivoli's hot sales, but after the United States imposed economic sanctions on Iran, the company had to press the stop button for its exports to Iran. Ssangyong also reached a product licensing agreement with Saudi Arabia to assemble local vehicles, but in Prince Alwaleed bin Tarad (Prince? Alwaleed? Bin? Talal) is Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Mohammad? Bin? After Salman stepped down, the plan was forced to return to the starting point.
So who can save Ssangyong now?
The company became an embarrassing situation in which the abandoned child was abandoned by the parent company. Everything seems familiar. As we all know, SAIC bought a 565,438+0% stake in Ssangyong in 2004 at a cost of US$ 500 million, which was the first time that China directly invested in a Korean automobile manufacturer. However, six years later, SAIC, as the parent company, gave up Ssangyong, and Ssangyong once suffered a serious liquidity crisis.
Ssangyong has no way out except bankruptcy.
In the first half of 2020, Ssangyong's operating loss has reached 2 158 billion won (equivalent to about RMB126.5 billion), which is close to its total loss of 2.8190 billion won (equivalent to about RMB165.2 billion) in 2065.38+09. The Korean media even used the word "catastrophic" to describe the company's financial situation. From the fourth quarter of 20 16 to the second quarter of this year, Ssangyong has been in a loss state for 14 consecutive quarters, and because the total outstanding debt has exceeded the company's total assets, the local financial consultant in South Korea once refused to evaluate Ssangyong's performance this year.
Ma Hengda once rescued Ssangyong from the brink of bankruptcy, but he has been unable to get the expected return from the company's investment in recent years. Since he officially took over in 20 10, Ma Hengda has invested 700 billion to 800 billion won (equivalent to about 465.438 billion to 4.7 billion yuan) in Ssangyong, but according to the rough statistics of Korean media, Ma Hengda has reported that Ssangyong has lost a total of 500 billion to 600 billion won (equivalent to about 2.9 billion to 3.5 billion yuan).
If Ssangyong still hopes to attract new investors in the first half of the year, and American automobile dealer HAAH Holdings has also shown interest in Ssangyong and conducted due diligence on it, there is still no plan for further investment, including Reuters. Many foreign media broke the news as early as June this year. Among the potential buyers of Ssangyong, Geely and BYD of China are interested in the manufacture of Ssangyong's specialty SUV, and they may participate in the follow-up bidding of Ssangyong, but they also denied the news for the first time, saying that they did not.
Ssangyong has no way out except bankruptcy.
Text/North Shore
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