Ssangyong Motors announced on the 10th that Chairman Kwak Jae-seon was honored as the ‘Person of the Year’, and the Torres was selected as the ‘SUV of the Year’ during the ‘2023 Car of the Year’ awards held at the Grand Hyatt Seoul by the Korea Automotive Journalists Association on the 9th (Thursday).

Chairman Kwak Jae-seon, who attended the awards ceremony, said, “Ssangyong Motors, with its 70-year long history, has made a strong fresh start together with the KG Group to leap forward. We regard this award as encouragement to focus more on normalizing management and the development of the automotive industry, and we will do our best in developing innovative products.” He added, “I will dedicate myself to making this company proud, so that Ssangyong Motors becomes a company respected by our customers based on respect and love.”

Meanwhile, Kim Kwang-ho, Head of Domestic Sales at Ssangyong Motors and recipient of the ‘2023 SUV of the Year’ award, expressed his joy, stating, “I am sincerely delighted that the Torres, developed with great effort based on a thorough understanding of what our customers want and expect, has been selected as the 2023 SUV of the Year. Starting with the Torres, we will work harder to launch U100 and create differentiated products that actively reflect customer needs.”

The evaluation for the ‘2023 Car of the Year’ was conducted by the Korea Automotive Journalists Association, which consists of automotive journalists. They selected 33 vehicles from 84 new car models introduced in 2022 through an initial vote, and further identified the winners in each category after testing the vehicles in real conditions at the Porsche Racing Way in January. The Torres triumphed over competitors, achieving the significant honor of being named ‘2023 SUV of the Year’.

Additionally, among 10 candidates who contributed to the development of the automotive industry, the association highly evaluated Chairman Kwak Jae-seon of Ssangyong Motors for playing a core role in advancing electrification efforts and launching differentiated strategies for management normalization in the new mobility era, resulting in his selection as the ‘2023 Person of the Year’.

Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr