Ssangyong Motor

SsangYong Motor Co., the nation's fourth-largest automaker, has started work to expand its flagship assembly
plant, a move designed to more than double output to 400,000 units by 2007, the company said yesterday.

The carmaker said it began rearranging production lines at the Pyeongtaek plant last week, laying the ground
work for the production expansion. The company will build added facilities there and enlarge the site 45
percent to about 478,000 square meters by 2007.

The project will raise Ssangyong's annual production capacity to 400,000 vehicles from the current 180,000.
The company officials said they will spend 2.2 trillion won on the project.

"We have not been able to meet the rising overseas demand due to limited production capacity. The larger
facility will help increase exports and strengthen our competitiveness in the global market," said a Ssangyong
spokesman. "We anticipate that sales abroad will grow 10-fold to $2.2 billion by 2007."

Ssangyong, which mainly produces sport utility vehicles such as the Korando and Rexton models, sells only
21 percent of its cars abroad. The weak exports have been highlighted as a major weakness for the carmaker,
as the slumping domestic economy has seriously hurt its overall sales.

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- Source from The Korea Herald (Aug 11, 2004) -