Ssangyong Motor

SEOUL, June 1 (Yonhap) -- SsangYong Motor Co. said Thursday its May sales fell 7 percent last month from a year earlier due to slowing overseas demand. 

The South Korean unit of Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. sold a total of 12,349 vehicles in May, down from 13,282 units a year earlier, SsangYong Motor said in a statement. 

Domestic sales rose 11 percent to 10,238 units last month from 9,191 units a year earlier. But exports plunged 48 percent to 2,111 autos from 4,091 during the same period, the statement said. 

In the January-May period, the maker of the Rexton and Tivoli SUVs sold a combined 57,648, down 4.6 percent year-on-year from 60,410 in the year-earlier period, it said. 

Mahindra & Mahindra owns a 72.85-percent stake in SsangYong Motor. It is the flagship affiliate of Mahindra Group, a US$18 billion Indian conglomerate with businesses that range from the country's largest SUV maker to farm equipment and financial services. 

SsangYong Motor's Tivoli SUV (Courtesy of SsangYong Motor) (Yonhap)

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr