Ssangyong Motor

SEOUL, April 3 (Yonhap) -- Overall sales by SsangYong Motor Co., the smallest carmaker in the country, remained little changed in March compared with a year earlier, backed by steady demand for its SUVs, the company said Monday. 

SsangYong Motor sold a total of 12,992 vehicles last month, compared with 13,010 units a year earlier, the carmaker said in a statement. 

Domestic sales rose 1.8 percent on-year to 9,229 units in March, while exports fell 4.5 percent to 3,763 over the cited period, the statement said. 

In the January-March period, a 11 percent on-year decline in exports was offset by a 7.6 percent gain in domestic sales. Local sales came to 24,350 autos, with exports standing at 9,878, it said. 

Robust sales of the Tivoli compact SUV gave a boost to the quarterly sales results, company data showed. 

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. owns a 72.85 percent stake in SsangYong Motor. 

SsangYong Motor's Tivoli compact SUV (Yonhap file photo)

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr