Kyung-Yeong Industries (경용 산업)
Embrace in Joy. 기뻐하십시오.
History & Lore
Kyung-Yeong Industries (est. 1944) are a large scale industrial company which began producing cars from 1946 as self-titled Kyung-Yeong. Kyung-Ja Song, the owner of the brand began with a couple large plots of land, one car factory and one engine plant. Using funds gained from the industrial side of the brand, the car company started with 2 billion, and moderate levels of advanced technology.
They began by producing the Ssanvan which released in 1951, becoming an instant success for South Koreans all around, as it was highly affordable and immensely reliable. Onward from this the brand expanded into the premium market introducing the V12 powered Dileieom in 1954. Come 1967, Kyung-Yeong released their first light-weight sports car: The Seupang. It used a combination of technology from the family cars and industrial knowledge to create a fast featherweight that went to compete in the Japanese Grand Prix, Can-Am and then Le Mans in 1974.
By the 1970-1980s, Kyung-Yeong had grown to sell to almost all markets with; The Sayuti, a heavy utility truck, the Malku, a compact hatchback, and the Majijeol, a highly regarded luxury premium limousine.
Early Years
Kyung-Ja Song, the owner of Kyung-Yeong Industries founded the car division of the brand in his home town of Daegu, South Korea at 31 years old. With the money from Kyung-Yeong Industries to go into the car brand as well as using the engine technology: Kyung-Ja set out to create a reliable, affordable and functional car: The Ssanvan was exactly that.
Knowing the market was there for him to begin producing cars, Kyung-Ja begun talking with heads at the KYI HQ and decided to assemble a team who would go about creating the automotive division. It was comprised of:
President of R&D: Zed Aldous Rodgers an Englishman who worked in the automotive industry and then aviation industry during the war. After 1949, he worked in the UK before being scouted for Kyung-Yeong. Gracefully accepting the offer to move to South Korea to be the head R&D officer for the industrial company, he was promoted to work as head R&D officer for the automotive division come late 1950.
President of Domestic and Foreign Production: Myeong Han known for being consistent at making and maintaining relations, they were in charge of both domestic and foreign production. Originally when Kyung-Yeong was purely domestic selling she would be a spokesperson for the automotive brand.
CFO & Investments officer: Jung-Hee Chung was set in charge of finance and investments of the brand. He worked closely with banks and the industrial branch of Kyung-Yeong.
Released in 1951, the Kyung-Yeong Ssanvan was named the “People’s car of South Korea” for its resilient reliability and generous affordability. When Kyung-Yeong Motors were starting out, they needed to transport parts from warehouse to factories and production lines constantly, and so once the Ssanvan chassis was developed with the high usability and utility factors taken from the industrial brand. Pre-production models were used for transporting goods and parts from then onwards, and still the brand uses their own vehicles for self-sustained transportation.
