Ssangyong Motor filed for court receivership on Friday to avoid bankruptcy, becoming one of South Korea’s first big casualties of the global crisis that has led to a slump in demand for cars.

The move to place the smallest of Korea’s carmakers into receivership ends Shanghai Automotive’s four-year management control over the Korean carmaker. SAIC’s 2004 purchase of a 51 per cent stake in Ssangyong was the first overseas buy-out by a Chinese carmaker.