Labour dissatisfied in Korea, Ssangyong SUVs for India

A significant joint effort of Mahindra and Mahindra and Ssangyong will be to bring the company’s SUVs to India. Pawan Goenka, president (automotive), was quoted saying that M&M is planning to bring in Ssangyong’s flagship Rexton and ready-for-launch Korando C SUVs in the CKD, that is, completely knocked down form. Both Rexton and Korando C are high-end SUVs. These models are likely to compete with Toyota Fortuner, GM Captiva, Hyundai Tucson, Nissan X-Trail, Ford Endeavour and Honda CR-V, he said.
 
Rajesh Jejurikar, chief of operations, M&M was quoted saying that the two products, Rexton and Korando will compete with SUVs in the price range of Rs 15-20 lakh. The final decision about the cost will be taken on the basis of level of localisation. But still there is some doubt regarding the feasibility of this new step by the company. 
 
The experts are in doubt that whether M&M would be able to sell Rextons and Korando Cs in good numbers across the country. The SUV market of India is still new and that is why it may be tough for M&M to sell more than 300-400 units of the two SUVs together. 
 
The other reports say that the labour union in Korea wants a smooth acquisition without any militant activity. This sends a message for potential bidders. Kyu-baek, the public relations official of the Ssangyong Motor Labor Union said that the company should not mess with the labours. The labours are now gathering information, writing up their proposal and preparing for negotiations.