Ssangyong Motor Co., the local unit of Indian sport utility vehicle maker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., said Monday its sales for January slumped 10.7 percent from the previous year, hit by the weakening Russian ruble that dented the company's overseas shipments.

Combined sales at home and abroad came to 10,321 units, down from the 11,562 units sold a year earlier, the carmaker said in a press release. Compared to the previous month, sales plunged 19.1 percent.

The sales figures exclude complete knockdown kits that are shipped abroad for assembly.

Exports nearly halved over the same period, nosediving 43.4 percent to 3,504 units from the earlier 6,189 units, as the company lessened its shipments to Russia, the company said.

"The company strategically reduced the shipment to the Russian market in response to the ruble's fall," Ssangyong officials said.

On the other hand, domestic sales jumped 25.2 percent on-year and helped soften the adverse effects from currency exchange. The recently launched Tivoli SUV accounted for more than a third of the sales on the homefront, buoyed by the popularity of the leisure-oriented crossover models here.

"The customer preference for compact SUVs has been increasing globally," said Lee Yoo-il, chief executive officer of Ssangyong Motor. "We will expand sales by raising the productivity as we now have competitiveness in the growing compact SUV market thanks to the Tivoli launch." (Yonhap)