This photo provided by SsangYong Motor shows the Torres SUV. Courtesy of SsangYong Motor

SsangYong Motor said Tuesday its sales rose 3.9 percent last month from a year earlier, helped by robust overseas demand for its SUV models.

SsangYong Motor sold 9,094 vehicles in December, up from 8,755 units a year earlier despite an extended global chip shortage, the company said in a statement.

Domestic sales fell 5 percent to 5,520 units last month from 5,810 a year ago, while exports jumped 20 percent to 3,574 units from 2,975 during the same period, it said.

For the whole of 2022, sales climbed 35 percent to 113,660 autos from 84,106 units a year ago.

SsangYong's lineup consists of the Torres, Tivoli, Korando, Rexton and Rexton Sports SUVs.

The Seoul Bankruptcy Court approved SsangYong's debt payment plans in August after the court picked a local consortium led by chemical-to-steel firm KG Group as the final bidder to acquire the debt-laden company in June.

In October, SsangYong graduated from the court-led debt rescheduling program 1 1/2 years after it was placed under court receivership amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (Yonhap)