Japan’s keiretsu – those widely diversified industrial conglomerates like Mitsubishi and Sumitomo – are globally renowned. And South Korea has similar ones, called chaebol.
In 2022, one such chaebol, the KG Group (which makes products as different as steel, fertiliser, renewable energy and, until fairly recently, fried chicken) bought ailing native specialist car maker Ssangyong out of receivership. The group’s new automotive arm – KG Mobility, or KGM for short – promptly sprang into being, the Ssangyong brand was dropped and the subject of this road test, the KGM Torres, became one of the first all-new cars to emerge under the grand new auspices.
This will remain a specialist SUV brand, the new management says, with a focus on tough, rugged, versatile family cars – although those cars will move…
