The perfect match for ‘goritabun’.

We scoffed. It’s because a tired trotting program from the K-pop era called “Who’s Watching” meets an endangered car brand called “Who’s Buying That Company’s Car.

Enter Ssangyong Motors (now KG Mobility) and the TV entertainment program “Tomorrow is Mr. Trot,” which has been airing since January 2020.

My expectations were dashed. In retrospect, it was a ‘stroke of luck’ where coincidence worked as fate. Thanks to Mr. Trot’s Lim Young-woong and Ssangyong’s largest model, the Rexton.

Youngwoong Lim’s Rexton pictorial [Photo courtesy of KG Mobility].
The winner, Lim Young-woong, made a significant contribution to the success of Mr. Robot. After taking over from Mr. Robot Batong, Mr. Robot also opened the heyday of the trot program.

Ssangyong Motors, which had cooperative marketing with Mr. Trot and offered a G4 Rexton as a prize, was also revitalized by the ‘Lim Young-woong halo effect’.

Lim and SsangYong are now living completely different lives.

After a long period of ignominy when he couldn’t pay his rent, Mr. Trot helped him become the next big thing, and now he’s not just a Trot King, but a multi-talented ‘Gawang’.

Ssangyong Motors, which had suffered ups and downs for more than 20 years due to the wrong owner, created a spark of hope with the Rexton, ‘Lim Young-woong’s car,’ and is finally smiling after finding a new owner.

Young-woong Lim and Ssangyong, a coincidence of fate

Lim Young-woong’s rental showcase [Photo courtesy of KG Mobility].
When I think of Lim Young-woong and Ssangyong, I think of the famous line from the movie “Crazy About Her”: “Coincidences are the bridges that fate builds for those who try.

Their first meeting is a real coincidence. Their relationship began when Lim Young-woong became Mr. Trot ‘Jin’. In April 2020, SsangYong selected Lim as the first protagonist of the G4 Rexton White Edition model.

On May 18 of the same year, he released a video of himself ‘unboxing’ the car on his official YouTube channel, and the unboxing content, in which he stroked and cherished his ‘first car’ G4 Rexton with an emotional expression, was viewed over 2 million times.

The Rexton, which had all but lost its presence in the face of Hyundai-Kia’s flagship SUVs such as the Santa Fe, Sorento, Palisade, and Mojave, has been revived. Ssangyong’s first car commercial, featuring Lim Young-woong, was viewed 3.6 million times on the brand’s official YouTube channel.

Sales of the G4 Rexton, which had been virtually lost to Hyundai and Kia, increased by 53% from the previous month.

Lim Young-woong and the all-new Lexus [Photo courtesy of KG Mobility].
Impressed by the Lim halo effect, SsangYong followed up the coincidence with a bridge: the All-New Rexton, the successor to the G4 Rexton.

Five months later, SsangYong held a launch event for the All-New Rexton with a showcase of Lim Youngwoong’s new songs. Ticketing for the showcase panel, which was held on the music platform Mellon, sold out in less than a minute, heralding a huge success.

The fateful day was November 4, 2020. Lim took the stage in a black suit to introduce his new song “HERO,” which was completed in collaboration with SsangYong Motors.

He proved that he was destined to win, showing off his versatility with an unwavering live performance and excellent choreography skills.

Lim Youngwoong pictorial [Photo courtesy of KG Mobility].
On YouTube, 31,000 people watched the video simultaneously, proving the Lim effect. On the same day, the Hero music video posted on Lim’s official YouTube channel received over 2 million views in three days.

As of May 18, this year, the number of views is 29.9 million, just shy of 30 million.

The All-New Lexus, which appeared alongside Hero, also benefited from the direct and indirect promotion of Lim’s fans.

More than 3,800 units were signed in pre-orders alone, a rare achievement for SsangYong until Torres’ appearance as a brand hero last year.

Lim Young-woong and SsangYong overcome ‘hope torture’ to become a wingman

Ssangyong’s Hiiroin Torres [Photo by Choi Ki-sung, reporter for Maehyeong.com].
SsangYong Motors, All-New Rexton, and Lim Young-woong have been supportive of each other, perhaps because they have a lot in common.

Despite his singing talent, Lim had a hard time finding work. He even sold sweet potatoes to pay his rent. Along with IU, he’s one of the stars who went from rags to riches.

If you don’t have the ability and don’t expect it the first time, the pain is even worse when the opportunities that come your way come to nothing. The most terrifying torture in the world is the ‘hope torture’.

This was the case with Lim Young-woong, who made his debut through a national singing contest that was loved by the entire nation, but was unable to escape from ignominy.

He was resurrected through the TV program “Morning Garden스포츠토토,” but his fame was very low compared to his talent. Finally, he emerged as a blue chip in the entertainment and CF world through Mr. Trot.

KR10 and Korando [Photo courtesy of KG Mobility].
Ssangyong, which strengthened its position as a ‘domestic SUV maker’ with Korando, also experienced the most trials among domestic car brands. It suffered from repeated disappointments and expectations.

It was taken over by Daewoo Group during the 1998 IMF foreign exchange crisis, and after the dissolution of Daewoo Group, the hardships began again. When it was acquired by China’s Shanghai Automobile, the company struggled to normalize due to the technology leak controversy and labor conflicts during the restructuring process.

The pain began again when the new owner, Mahindra, announced in November 2010 that it was washing its hands of SsangYong, nine and a half years after acquiring it for 52.5 billion won ($53.5 billion). Even then, the ‘shrimp that swallowed the whale’ Edison Motors stepped in to become the new owner, but it was only a ‘hopeful torture’.

Ssangyong met a ‘hero’ in a difficult time, and they became destined to support each other. With the Rexton, ‘Lim Young-hoong’s car,’ hope was renewed, and with the Torres, Ssangyong showed that ‘Ssangyong can do it.

SsangYong’s concept car ‘CCR-1’ [Photo source=KG Mobility].
A year ago, SsangYong changed its name to KG Mobility after welcoming KG Group as its new owner.

KG Mobility is making a comeback as an ‘SUV specialist’. ‘F100’, the successor to Lim Young-hoong’s car, and ‘KR10′, the successor to Korando, will take over from Torres’ ‘Dakka Batong’.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)