[THE INVESTOR] Ssangyong Motor, the Korean unit of Indian auto giant Mahindra & Mahindra, said on Oct. 19 that it has sold 111,683 vehicles in the first nine months of this year, the best sales performance since 2002.

The sales figure was up 7.5 percent from the same period last year, largely driven by its hot-selling compact SUV Tivoli whose sales have soared 39.7 percent over the past year.

The carmaker said it sold 73,929 vehicles in Korea and 15,278 overseas.

Revenue also jumped 8.8 percent to 2.62 trillion won (US$23 billion). The company that returned to profitability in the fourth quarter last year said that it saw an operating profit of 20 billion won in the January-September period. 

The company expects to continue the current sales momentum when its new vehicles, including the upgraded Korando Sports and Tivoli, hit overseas markets from the third quarter.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)