이 기사는 2021년 04월 14일 07:33 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

SsangYong Motor's board will no longer have a board member related to its parent Mahindra & Mahindra as SsangYong Motor Chief Financial Officer Ashutosh Vidwans resigned as the non-executive director of SY Auto Capital on March 30, industry sources said on Monday.

Founded in 2015, SY Auto Capital is a capital unit of SsangYong Motor. The company is 51% owned by SsangYong Motor and 49% by KB Capital.

Mahindra, the largest shareholder of SsangYong Motor, had paid attention to the company, with Mahindra’s management executive serving on the SY Auto Capital’s board. Vasudev Tumbe served as the non-executive director of SY Auto Capital until December 2012 and Vidwans took over the position.

SY Auto Capital was the only subsidiary of SsangYong Motor where Mahindra’s executive took a seat on its board. Mahindra Managing Director Pawan Goenka has served as the chairman of the SsangYong Motor’s board only.

SY Auto Capital has shown stable performance since its establishment, recoding operating profits and net profits for five consecutive years from 2016 to 2020. It posted operating profit of 2.7 billion won ($2.39 million) and net profit of 2.1 billion won in 2020.

SsangYong Motor’s Australian unit recorded sales of 51.5 billion won in 2020, up from 30.1 billion won in 2019, but recorded loss of 3 billion won. Its total asset is negative 6.8 billion won, indicating complete capital erosion. Its European unit is also in complete capital erosion. Its Chinese unit recorded net loss of 200 million won in 2020 and will be offloaded.

Mahindra is virtually stepping out of SsangYong Motor's management after saying last year that it will look for new investors without making additional investments in SsangYong Motor. It is also said that Mahindra is in a hurry to cut ties with SsangYong Motor before the settlement of last fiscal year (March). The resignation of Vidwans from registered executive seems to reaffirm Mahindra's willingness to break up with SsangYong Motor.

KB Capital, a joint venture partner, also faces uncertainties as SY Auto Capital borrowed 40 billion won from KB Capital at the end of 2020. NongHyup Bank and Shinhan Bank also provided loans of 3.25 billion won and 3 billion won respectively to SY Auto Capital. (Reporting by Kyung-tae Kim)