Ssangyong unveils new design center at its Pyeongtaek plant

Ssangyong Motor introduced a new design center at its plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi yesterday.

After 13 months of construction, the nation’s smallest automaker showed off its center at the R&D campus of the Pyeongtaek plant yesterday. Ssangyong said the center will enable greater access to the R&D team right from the new product planning stage, enabling new synergies through the development process.

“The value of design is to deliver the company’s brand message to customers and create a distinct brand identity,” Lee Yoo-il, CEO of Ssangyong Motor, said in a release. “Ssangyong’s new design center will take a lead role in reflecting various customer needs and design trends in Ssangyong vehicles.”

The Ssangyong Design Center was originally established along with the Central R&D Center in 1992, and then separated from the R&D Center when it was moved to Anseong, Gyeonggi, where the company’s logistics center is located in 2000.

The center, which previously occupied a space of 65,470 square feet, has grown to 93,320 square-feet. The center has three stories above ground and one underground.

Ssangyong, now an affiliate of the India-based Mahindra Group, said the center includes highly advanced facilities such as a modeling room, design sample room, color lab and inside and outside presentation areas. It will aid in the development of future models, including the XIV series, which is considered the company’s growth driver.

The evaluation room, where the design of a new car is evaluated, is equipped with a high-resolution virtual reality system. The company said it will operate two separate evaluation areas - inside and outside - to ensure the highest quality when it comes to new vehicle design.

Industry insiders said Ssangyong has been criticized in the past for its vehicles’ poor interior and exterior designs.

Recently, the company established a new design philosophy that revolves around the idea that “dynamic motion provides pleasure to human beings in life and nature.”

Ssangyong believes better designs will lead to better sales of SUV models like the Korando C and Rexton W.

The automaker has been enjoying buoyant sales this year. For the first 11 months, Ssangyong sold 42,335 vehicles in the domestic market, an on-year increase of 20.4 percent.

By Joo Kyung-don [kjoo@joongang.co.kr]