Ssangyong Motor Co., the South Korean unit of China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., said Friday it swung to a net loss for the first-quarter of this year as customers shunned its sport-utility vehicles on rising diesel prices. Ssangyong Motor lost 34 billion won (US$34 million) for the three months ended March 31, compared with a profit of 9.3 billion won for the same period a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Ssangyong Motor specializes in diesel-powered SUVs such as its Rexton and Kyron models. As diesel prices in South Korea are nearly matching those of gasoline, Ssangyong Motor vehicles are losing their competitive edge, analysts say. First-quarter sales fell 18.7 percent from a year earlier to 677.6 billion won, Ssangyong Motor said. Ssangyong Motor posted a first-quarter operating loss of 27.6 billion won, compared with a profit of 27.9 billion won a year earlier, the company said.
[Source: Trading Markets]
