Having recently gone bankrupt, SsangYong – which is a part of India-based Mahindra Group right now – may go on sale soon, Nikkei believes. Apparently, a startup company by the name of Edison Motors plans to buy it out for $260 million USD in late November.
The Korean automaker declared itself bankrupt in late 2020. Mahindra refused to take up its debt obligations, so it is now forced to look for a new owner. Rumors claim that three major automotive consortiums have already expressed their interest in the deal, but Edison Motors, a startup firm founded six years ago, seems the likeliest candidate so far.
The Edison brand primarily focuses on designing electric buses right now, but it does intend to start making light passenger vehicles in the near future. For instance, its next planned release is Smart S, a luxury electric sedan to rival the Mercedes-Benz EQS. The car is envisioned with a three-motor powertrain rated at 650 PS (641 hp / 478 kW) and a 100-kWh traction battery rated for 800 km (497 miles) of range.
Other ambitions include producing a more compact Smart E sedan to compete with the Mercedes-Benz EQE and an affordable Smart A model to lure customers away from the Tesla Model 3. An SUV dubbed Smart X is also in the plans and the company says it might switch to a new area of expertise when these are out, such as electric yachts or aircrafts.
Three months ago, still lacking funding, SsangYong nonetheless announced a new SUV temporarily named the X200. The company said it would be an ideological successor to the Korando model shown in the attached video. No specifics were given.