Ssangyong Motor

SEOUL, Aug. 20 -- SsangYong Motor Co. has added the gasoline-powered Korando SUV to its lineup amid rising demand for recreational vehicles, the company said Tuesday.

The 1.5-liter turbo gasoline model comes after SsangYong Motor launched the 2.0-liter diesel Korando in the domestic market in February.

The latest model is equipped with seven air bags and some safety features, such as lane keeping assist, driver awareness assist and autonomous emergency braking systems. It is priced at 23 million won-28 million won (US$19,000-23,000).

The country's SUV market grew 15 percent to 517,000 units last year from 448,000 in 2015. The compact SUV market soared 87 percent to 153,000 from 82,000 over the cited period, according to SsangYong.

In the January-June period, the company's net losses almost doubled to 77.6 billion won from 39.6 billion won a year earlier. It sold 70,277 vehicles in the first half, up 4.7 percent from 67,110 units a year ago.

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