◀ Heo Il-hoo ▶
An internal police investigation also concluded that the suppression of the strike in 2009 was too much, and I do not understand that the Commissioner General of the National Police Agency even apologized, but the lawsuit for damages cannot be withdrawn…
◀ Hyo-yeop Kim ▶
If the Supreme Court decides on the verdict, 11.6 billion won will have to be paid back in split between the union and 103 union members.
I don’t think it’s harsh for those who are still suffering from the hardships of life.
◀ Heo Il-hoo ▶
After all, isn’t the root cause of foreign companies taking over Ssangyong Motor, stealing technology, and then ‘eating’?
◀ Lee Dong-kyung ▶
Yes, so the issue of Ssangyong Motor is not a little attributable to the government, which took the lead in the overseas sale, and the Korea Development Bank, the main creditor bank.
They couldn’t verify foreign capital, and technology leaks were just eye-opening.
However, in the process of this Edison Motors acquisition of Ssangyong Motor, Korea Development Bank took the key again.
◀ Report ▶
In 2004, Shanghai Motor Company of China acquired Ssangyong Motor for 590 billion won.
Shanghai Motors has promised to invest 1.2 trillion won in Ssangyong Motor and have facilities with an annual capacity of 300,000 units.
However, the promise was not kept, and only the technology leak that was feared became a reality.
In 2005, the year after the acquisition of Shanghai Motors, Ssangyong Motor launched the mid-size SUV ‘Kyron’.
[소진관 / 쌍용자동차 사장(2005년)]
“It made the driving performance as smooth as a passenger car, and now it keeps the SUV as it is, and that’s what it features.”
However, in 2011, Shanghai Motor changed only the name of this car to ‘Lowe’ and launched it in China.
Usually, about 300 billion won is spent on new car development.
However, the only money that Shanghai Motors paid to Ssangyong was 24 billion won in technology transfer fees.
The technology of the high-end passenger car, famous for its joint engine with German Mercedes-Benz, is 10 billion won, and the Korando C technology is 62 billion won.
The technology of three types of vehicles, which SsangYong spent a lot of money on development, was transferred to Shanghai Motors for only 100 billion won.
[한상균 / 금속노조 쌍용자동차지부장(2009년)]
“We confirmed that the drawings and production technology of vehicles that are not yet produced, and the entire mass production technology, from the parts network to the parts industry, are directly transmitted through the local drawings and our local engineers… ”
It was even revealed that some of the country’s core technology, diesel hybrid technology, was transferred to Shanghai cars.
The Korea Development Bank, the main creditor bank, is responsible for technology leakage.
At the time of the sale, a special contract was signed stating that ‘if Shanghai Motors transfers Ssangyong’s core technology, it must get permission from the Korea Development Bank’, but Korea Development Bank released this special contract in July 2006, a year and a half later, after that, Shanghai Motors took over the technology freely. Went.
The National Intelligence Service and the prosecution launched an investigation and prosecuted several researchers, but by that time, they had already used Ssangyong Motor as they were used and Shanghai Motor had left the country.
Thanks to this, Shanghai Motor, which did not have its own vehicle production capacity, rapidly grew into one of China’s top three automakers using Ssangyong’s technology as a foothold.
[홍성준 / 약탈경제반대행동 대표]
“There are roughly seven countries on the planet that can produce cars, including the United States, Japan, France, and Korea.
Mahindra, which acquired Ssangyong Motor in 2010, is no different from Shanghai Motors.
Mahindra also emphasized the fact that there was a lot of cash at the start of the acquisition.
[아난드 마힌드라 / 마힌드라 그룹 부회장(2010년)]
“I want to emphasize once again that we have over $500 million in cash. We have enough capacity.”
Creditors such as Korea Development Bank again trusted the promise of foreign capital and handed over Ssangyong Motor.
However, in addition to the 500 billion won in acquisition funds, Mahindra invested 130 billion won in Ssangyong Motor over 10 years.
There were also suspicions of technology leaks as in the case of the Shanghai car.
In 2015, Ssangyong Motor launched the Tivoli, a compact SUV that became a sensation in the market.
In March 2019, Mahindra took the body or platform of Tivoli and launched it in India under the name of XUV300.
It has established itself as a popular model of Mahindra, selling 40,000 units in its first year alone.
However, in return for this, Mahindra paid Ssangyong Motor 55 billion won in technology transfer fees.
[오민규 / 노동문제연구소 ‘해방’ 연구실장]
“20% of the vehicles Mahindra sells in India are Tivolis. Of the 200,000 sold, 40,000 are Tivoli. India is experiencing a very difficult time due to the corona pandemic. If there is, it can be said that it is actually a Tivoli. It is a product of that level, and it has been sold for over two years, so it seems to be a car that has achieved more than 1 trillion won in sales now, but it was simply finished with 55 billion won.”
Mahindra went ahead with the sale of Ssangyong Motor, overturning the saying that it would invest an additional 230 billion won in 2020 when the business crisis accelerated.
[☏아니시 샤 / 마힌드라 그룹 최고재무책임자(2020년 11월)]
“We will no longer invest in Ssangyong Motors. We are looking at potential investors in Ssangyong Motors.”
Whenever Ssangyong Motor was sold, the government and the Korea Development Bank forced workers to make unilateral sacrifices such as wage cuts and promises of no dispute, but the return is the reason why critics are criticized as ‘exploitation of foreign capital’.
Ssangyong Motor is expected to be acquired by a Korean company again after 17 years.
However, it is true that there are still concerns about Edison Motors’ financial strength and recovery plan.
Edison Motors offered 310 billion won to acquire Ssangyong Motor.
However, Ssangyong Motor’s debt alone is 700 billion won.
Industry analysts say that when considering the funds to be invested in the development of new cars such as electric vehicles, about 1.6 trillion won is needed right now.
Edison Motors, which lacks funds, plans to request a loan of 800 billion won from the Korea Development Bank, using the Ssangyong Motor factory site as collateral.
However, the Korea Development Bank is negative.
[이동걸 KDB산업은행 회장/ 국회 정무위원회 국정감사 (올해 10월)]
“I would like to say that I would be grateful if you could understand that (Edison Motors) has limitations when its business feasibility is not judged.”
Edison Motors’ plan to transform Ssangyong into an electric vehicle company is not an easy one.
This is because it is possible not only to invest in funds and manpower, but also to overhaul everything from parts procurement to factory facilities.
[이항구 / 한국자동차연구원 연구위원]
“First, we have to change the process (to electric vehicles). It’s not much, but we need to retrain our workforce. Also, we need to develop new models. The supply chains of parts makers need to be stabilized, and if you go to the after-sales network as a sales network, it will have an ecosystem. I have to give it to you. In the process, the cost is inevitably put under a lot of pressure.”
◀ Heo Il-hoo ▶
Shanghai Automobile, Mahindra Group and Korea Development Bank.
Foreign capital was greedy, and governments and creditors stood by their prey.
◀ Hyo-yeop Kim ▶
The laid-off workers who faced the strike were trampled upon by the public authorities and are still caught in the trap of litigation.
Now, even if it is only a national institution, I think it is a responsible attitude to drop a lawsuit for damages.
◀ Heo Il-hoo ▶
Relentless Tracking Journalism Exploration Planning Straight
◀ Hyo-yeop Kim ▶
We will see you again next week.
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